Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1918-06-13
MAKE VALUABLE PRODUCTS
FROM CHERRY PITS


ct American Canneries Viii Yield
Valuable Oils. Cattle Feed, JeI.
lies, Preserves and Alcohol
Sixteen hundred tons of cherry pits,
l5w source OF annoyance and tx.
Cense to cannerles. can he made to
Yield two valuable oils and also a
meal for feeding cattle, according to
specialists of the l.. s. Department a.
Agriculture In addition loJ.o00 gal
Ions Of cherry juice now wasted in
seeding cherries can be turned into
desirable jelly and sirup, or even into
alcOhOl. A saving Of these valuable by
Products from cherry canning MAJ
make possible the domestic mannfac.
lire OF substitutes for almond oil and
bitter almond oil. now imported. and
Al he same time establish Il new in
dustry in the cherry packing districts
81 the North Atlantic, North Central,
and Western States.
The specialists however have not
Yet carried their work 10 a point
where they can say that The convert.
ing of this juice and the cherry pits
would be a profitable side industry fof
re ordinary or smaller cannery. In
cases where number OF Gamers ar,
operating within Il reasonable dis
lance of one another, the specialists
however believe that the waste pro-
ducts could he sent to Il central CO.
operative or other plant at small cost
and there utilized 10 advantage
Studies. however, are being carried n
~ determine whether means can NOS
he devised for making these waste
products profitable also When banded
N a small scale.
Some time ago there WAS similar
vestieation OF the use OF peach and
apricot PITS ior making oils and meal
Fad ,omm rcial enterp, ise Ia, be-
-stahluhed in California for cealins
with these products. The depa finest
Las published d bulletin on this sub
ject and also one dealing with the
utilization Of raisn seed from the
seeded raisin industry. II was found
that many tons Of raisin seed had con.
siderable fruit adhering to them
which could readily be turned into
very desirable raisin srnp Ton the USE
81 contnctIoners and others. After this
PULP had bee used II was found tina.
IN oil useful I'm the arts could profile
ably be pressed from the seed and
experiments are under way 10 deter
nine whether The crushed seed could
rot be used to advantage in feeding
ltOck
The following description of these
products and methods vii n have
been developed for making them, are
The Utilization Of Cherry By-Pro-
ducts" by Frank Rabak, Chemical
Biologist. Bureau OF Plant Industry.
The kernel of the pit, as iong ha'
been known, contains considerable
quantity Of oil. Investigations recent.
" conducted show that. the oily con.
s;itnenls of the kernel can be cor
rerted into a fixed oil much like al.
mond oil, and oylatile oil practically
identical with oil OF bitter almonds.
The residue after these oils are ex.
tracted shows on analysis ingreden's
that make It practical cattle feed
similar 10 linseed cake.
The fixed oil is the most important
oy.product of cherry pits It mas a col.
i" deu yellow color and u pleasant nut
IKE taste and odor. In character 1t is
AZ closely related 10 imported almond
Gil that il is believed to possess SINH.
lar possibilities in the commercial
!. anutacture of drugs, oils. and soap
u The pits OF all domestic cherries
now thrown away at canneries, and
he pits extracted from imported
cherries. were prOcessed in this way
II IL estimated that they would yield
%" HbuiuH vi fi'"u WI NVilU III the
neghborhood OF 20 cents pound
The hest quality Of this fixed oil is
.xyacied from the kernels in hy-
drsulic presses. The shells of The pits
are first cracked in Il mill and the
uncrushpd kernels separated out with
sieyes. The oil is then pressed out
from the meats, In a laboratory ok.
pertinent the kernels yielded 81 per
cent of fixed oil under a pressure OF
ESQ pounds 10 the square i.,ch. On a
commercial scale, however, with
presses equipped for heating the ker
nels under pressure, It Is believed that
30 per cent or more can he obtained.
The oil also can be obtained by grlnr.
ing the pits and extracting by means
Of solvents.
The volatile oil. the second product,
remains In the pressed cake after the
tixed oil has been extracted by pres
sure or by solvents. The volatile oil
4. then secured by hcemical means
and distillation. IN the experiments
the oil was obtained at the rate
- nearly one pound for every on hud.