A New and Improved Method for the Preservation of Fresh Fruit for Storing or Transport, and the Process of Preparing Packing Material for such Purpose.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Jan., 1888
Specification Accepted. 10th Feb., 1888
A New and Improved Method for the Preservation of Fresh Fruit
for Storing or Transport, and the Process of Preparing Packing
Material for such Purpose.
I, JOHN STORER, of Number 5 Billeter Avenue London England but now
temporarily of Clarence Street Sydney in the Colony of New South Wales
Professional Chemist do hereby declare the nature of my invention for A NEW AND
IMPROVED METHOD FOR THE PRESERVATION OF FRESH FRUIT, FOR STORING OR
TRANSPORT, AND THE PROCESS OF PREPARING PACKING MATERIAL FOR SUCH PURPOSE,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention has for its object the preparation of packing material for the
preservation in a cheap and convenient manner of all kinds of fresh fruits, for the
storing and for the transport thereof to near or distant markets; and the prevention
for a reasonable time of decay or damage therein.
The storing of fresh fruits for a reasonable time, and the transport thereof to
distant markets, and often to near markets, require means which are not attained by
the ordinary methods of packing, to prevent the natural decay of the fruit which is
accelerated according to the greater quantity of moisture the fruit contains.
My invention consists in the preparation of the ordinary materials used for the
packing of fruit, such as sawdust, chaff, grain husks, fine shavings, or other similar
or convenient substances, or of paper, with a solution of Boracic Acid, or of Alkaline
Borates, or, Bi-borates, thereby applying to the desired object the antiseptic qualities
of compounds of Boran, and their solutions, the same being non-poisonous and not
injurious to human use in their application for antiseptic purposes.
I carry out my said invention by dissolving crystallised Boracic, Acid, or, an
Alkaline Borate, or Bi-borate in water. Any one of these may be used with
advantage, but the same may be usefully varied in practice according to the nature of
the fruit, and having regard to the season in which the same is grown. Fruit not
containing much moisture, or grown in a dry season, would not require the application
of a material so strongly antiseptic as fruit containing much.moisture, or grown in a
wet season. If the quality of the fruit or the season in which the same is grown,
should, having regard to such considerations, require the application of a material of

page_text: increased strength the stronger preparation may be used, or the preparations
mentioned mixed together in desired proportions to vary the strength of the
antiseptic material. have found in practice that Boracic Acid is the most
convenient, most economical and efficient compound in its use and operation for
general use for the purposes of my invention.
The quantity of water in which the substance or substances used should be dissolved
may also be varied according to the above circumstances, so as to increase or lessen
the antiseptic character of the solution. I have found in practice that the proportion
of one pound avoirdupois of the chemical to one gallon of water furnishes a solution
which is effective in general use.
.
The material used for packing, such as sawdust, chaff, grain husks, fine shavings, or
other similar material, is thoroughly saturated with the solution prepared as before
mentioned, and mixed until the solution is thoroughly incorporated with the material.
I have found for sawdust that the proportions of one gallon of the solution to one
hundredweight of the material generally suffices. The wet material is then dried in a
closed vessel by means of steam heat by any convenient method, until the whole mass
is brought to a temperature throughout of at least 212 degrees Fahrenheit. The
material is then thoroughly dried by any convenient method, when the same is ready
for use.
If the fruits to be packed are of a bulky character, such for instance as apples,
pears, oranges, lemons, limes, passion fruit, and so forth, the same are selected
according to size by any of the convenient and known methods, and are packed in
the prepared material. The packing should be carried out in cases, preferably of the
kind known as close cases. A thin layer of the prepared material should be placed in
the bottom of the case. A layer of fruit being placed thereon, the spaces are filled up
with the material, and the fruit covered with a layer thereof. Further layers of the
fruit are then packed in the same way until the case is filled.
When it is desirable to afford an additional protection against decay, each fruit may
be wrapped separately in tissue paper prepared by being saturated with the solution,
and then dried, by any convenient methods. The fruit thus protected may be packed
in cases by itself, or in material prepared as and in the manner before described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
1. The process of rendering packing material such as sawdust, chaff, grain husks,
shavings etcetra, antiseptic for the preservation of fresh fruit substantially as
described, and for the purposes set forth.
2. The process of rendering paper antiseptic for the preservation of fresh fruit,
substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.
3. The method of preserving fresh fruit by the packing thereof in antiseptic
material, substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.
Dated this Seventeenth day of November 1887.