The Washington herald., 1921-06-17
TOMATO SEED WASTE MADE
INTO rood PRODUCTS.

Nearly every puipinE factory In
the country has q small mountain
Of waste tomato seed. One two
hundredth Of every bushel Of to-
matoes 10 seed This does not seem
a large amount or Of great Inn
portance, but when every manufse-
turer OF catsup, pulp. soup paste,
and sauce has several hundred tons
Of IL, and scientists Unexpectedly
discover that two valuable CONNER
cial products can be made from Il,
II becomes Of interest commercially.
Fixed oil and press cake. or meal,
are the latest additions TO the
products useful 20 humanity saved
by chemists Of the department. Of
agriculture from huge piles Of So
called waste. In the larger factor
ies in the eastern and mid-western
tomato belts more than zoe. zoe tons
Of tomatoes are pulped annually.
The waste seed from these large
stations alone totals over a thou
sand tons
Men still young can remember
when millers were prosecuted for
dumping bran into rivers or
streams. People declared q poison
ed the FISH, but science learned that
II had q high food value for man
or beast, so that the man who threw
bran into stream today would be
very likely TO land in Jail Tomato
seed is just another product saved,
like bran, for important uses
The first important step in max
Ing the new products is TO separate
the seed from the wet waste
Several methods may be used, but
the specialists ind that the most
practicable method is TO eouip the
ordinary cyclone pulping machine.
now in use in most factories, with
q s-mesh woven screen made Of No.
IL wire. The mesh is just large
enough to admit the passage Of the
seeds, and these now out Of the
machine In q continuous stream,
while the cores and skins of the
fruit are discharged through the
gate as usual. The stream Of seed
and pulp Is then pumped into an
adjoining cyclone machine having
an ordinary 2e-mesh breaker
screen
The pulp and Juice pass through
this mesh. but the seed 10 retained.
and passes out through the gate
The operation involves no increase
Of labor, and IL continuous and eff
ncient- Experience with this
method for more than two seasons
at the Arlington experimental farm
has proved it's effectiveness.
After the seed has been separated
from the wet waste Il is washed
and dried. and is then ready for the
ol-eNtracting process. Two method,
OF oil extraction can be used-pres-
sure and solvent extraction. Pressed
oil is obtained by mechanical pres
ses. and commands a slightly high
er price in the market than the oil
which is extracted by chemical SOL
vent processes
The tomato seed oil obtained by
the eNpeller process is deep brown.
and has a strong odor. Il is re-
fined. bleached. and deodorized by
the usual methods. and Is then
comparable in quality with the
common edible oils OF commerce.
The value Of oil cake or meal as
stock food has been demonstrated
in Italy, where the utilization Of
tomato waste is in practical opera
ton. An analysis OF the meal
shows the following composition:
Moisture, us per cent: ash. 4sl per
cent; protein, 81 per cent: nitrogen
free extract. 2sl per cent: and nber.
22.l per cent. This analysis gives
tomato-seed meal a favorable foot
ing with some Of the better known
seed meals OF commerce. Il may be
used as food for cattle, hogs. or
chickens. II has a slightly bitter
taste which IS marked when mixed
with other food.
Owing TO the fact that the waste
from a single factory would make
the profts to be derived from In
stalling complete manufacturing
system hazardous. IL would seem
advisable TO orranize central
plant at which ~ the waste seed
from a number Of pulping stations
could be handled. The department
Of agriculture suggest the possibil-
lily Of q cooperative plan Of manu-
fscture by an association OF Gamers
and packers