No. 2(i92t) remarks on canning 75 



we are at present practically shut up to groundnut and cotton-seed 

 oils, and the latter, in quality suitable for canning, has of late been 

 altogether unprocurable. The qualities required in oil are a good 

 bright yellow colour, limpidity, freedom from all impurities and 

 from any solid deposit such asstearine, from acidity and rancidity, 

 and from marked specific flavour ; it should be a practically 

 neutral oil. 



81. Fure cotton-seed oil freshly made from fresh seed answers 

 these requirements, but is almost impossible to get at present in 

 India. In pre-war days this oil was obtained from London of 

 prime character and high class condition ; it was mainly from fresh 

 Egyptian cotton-seed, and cost from Rs. 2-14-O to Rs. 3-4-O per 

 imperial gallon delivered in casks at Beypore. The lower class 

 was used in frying and the higher in packing. Very fair double 

 refined cotton-seed oil was at one time obtainable from Navasari 

 in the Bombay Presidency, and single refined from Akola ; at 

 Cawnpore mills have been started to press and refine cotton-seed 

 oil, but none has yet been available to the cannery demands. The 

 Indian canning industry will be greatly assisted by the production 

 of really high class cotton-seed oil in India. 



82. Olive oil was obtained in bulk from England in pre-war days 

 and then worked out at about Rs. 5 to Rs. 5-8-O per gallon delivered 

 at Beypore; present prices are very far above that, and the oil is 

 practically not procurable in quantity. 



83. Groundnut oil is a bland oil of high quality when pressed 

 cold, but even so possesses a strong flavour which in the lower 

 grades is very marked ; this flavour is difficult to disguise or 

 to banish. The ordinary oil as it comes on the market from 

 the village presses, can hardly be used as it is ; considerable 

 refinement is necessary. A well-refined groundnut oil under the 

 significant name ' olivine ', has recently been placed on the market 

 and is at present our stand-by in canning, but its price, even when 

 ordinary groundnut oil was normal, was high and considerably 

 above that of pre-war cotton oil. 



84. Coconut-oil \s owi oi the question; its strong and persistent 

 characteristic flavour cannot wholly be removed, and when appa- 

 rently removed, is apt to return on heating or exposure to air. Its 

 use in margarine and vegetable butters is rendered possible by 

 hydrogenation which removes all flavour, apparently permanently, 

 but since this process hardens the oil into a solid white fat, it 



