Vol. XV. Xo. 370. 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



21; 



In consequence of the departure of the Chemical 

 Assistant to take up his appointment in Sierra Leone, there 

 is nil report of work done in tlie Laboratory for the month. 



NEVIS. Mr. W. I. Howell writes to the etiect that the 

 reaping of the cane crop is still in progress; there is a fair 

 ameunt of sugar on the island to be shipped, but the steamers 

 do not take any freight. The young cane.s are looking well, 

 e.xcept in certaiu places where they are ^suffering much from 

 want of rain There are over 400 aci'es already planted in 

 cotton, and preparaition is still in progress An Act has been 

 passed compelling the destruction of old cotton. The 

 rainfall for the month was 3-S2 i«iches; for the year to date 

 1.5-28 inches. 



STUDIES ON FRUIT JUICES. 



extracts dealing with the prepar- 

 furnish information of interest in 



preparation of lime juice cordial, 

 of oranges and other fruits grown 



transportation of fruit in bulk 

 . The information is taken from 

 Station Purirrd, Vol. XXXIII, 



The following 

 ation of fruit juices 

 connexion with the 

 and the utilization 

 in localities where 

 presents difficulties 

 the Experiment 

 No. 4:— 



It was found that ordinary methods of sterilizing fruit 

 juices by heat could be applied successfully to only a limited 

 number of the special fruits as black raspberry, blackberry, 

 black currant, sour cherry, and peach. The strawberrj', red 

 raspberry, red currant, pine-apple, and citrus fruit juices, and 

 apple cider were found to lose in flavour when sterilized by 

 heat. Special tests were made with the latter named fruits 

 for the purpo.se of devising methods of storing by refriger- 

 ation or sterilization with carbon dioxid. 



Satisfac;ory yields of juice were easily obtained from 

 all of the fruits studied. Lemon and orange juices were 

 best expressed by cutting each fruit into several pieces and 

 then pressing, a method which could be .successfully used in 

 pressing pine-apples, although the method of pressing the 

 fruit without previous cutting is probably superior. It was 

 found advisable to pass all of the other kinds of fruit pressed 

 without heating through an apple grater to facilitate the 

 outflow of the juice. 



Heating before pressing in the case of black raspberry, 

 blackberry, red currant, black currant, and huckleberry juices 

 resulted in larger yields of juice, and the development of more 

 colour and a more distinctive flavour than were obtained from 

 cold pressing. Strawberriers, red raspberries, cherries, peaches, 

 |)ine-apples, lemon.s, and oranges were cold pressed. 



Heating the juices sufficiently to sterilize them did not 

 affect injuriously the colour of any of the fruit juices, though 

 pine-apple, lemon, and orange juices usually darkened .some- 

 what if heated in the presence of dissolved oxygen, or if 

 exposed to atmospheric oxygen during the heat treatment. 



The distinctive flavour of the fresh fruit was greatly 

 injured, and the familiar cooked-strawberry taste appeared 

 when strawberry juice was sterilized by heat. The fresh fruit 

 flavour of orange juice was also distinctly injured when the 

 juice was heated. Although all lost in the quality of freshness, 

 heating did not seriously affect the flavour of other fruit juice.s, 

 except in cases where the heat employed was excessive. 



The extent to which colour and flavour were retained on 

 keeping the juice after sterilization varied greatly in the 

 juices from the various fruits. In strawberry juice the 

 brilliant red colour of the freshly sterilized juices in all cases 

 faded greatly, and further flavour lo.sses occurred. Sterilization 

 and subsequent keeping in carbon dioxid were not efl'ective 

 in .securing colour retention. 



When sterilized and subsequently kept in carbon dioxid 

 the distinctive colour of pine-apple juice remained practically 

 unchanged. When exposed to atmo.spheric oxygen at juice 

 surfaces during and after sterilization marked darkening 

 iiccurred. Change in colour was also found to be greatly, 

 though not wholly, retarded by keeping the juice in cold 

 storage at from 3"2° to -35°. On keeping the juice at ordinary 

 temperatures the distinctive pine-apple flavour gradually 

 les.sened, though the juices remained recognizable as pine- 

 apple. By keeping in cold storage at from 32° to 3.5° F. 

 flavour change was almost wholly prevented. 



Lemon juice darkened in colour if sterilized and kept in 

 the presence of atmospheric oxygen, though the colour was 

 satisfactorily retained when the juice was sterilized and kept 

 in carbon dioxid or in vacuum. In all cases an oft-flavour, 

 de.signated as a 'bottled limejuice' flavour, appeared in the 

 lemon juice after it had been kept for a time after sterili- 

 zation, even though in cold storage at from 32° to 35°. 



Orange juice also underwent a u.arked darkening in 

 colour when kept at room temperature after being sterilized. 

 The colour was fairly well retained when atmospheric oxygen 

 was excluded by sterilizing the juice and subsecpiently keep- 

 ing tight in vacuum or in carbon dioxid, and the change in 

 colour was well controlled by keeping the juice at low 

 temperatures. Tlie flavour of sterilized orange juice, already 

 slightly injured by the heating necessary for sterilization, 

 underwent further changes when kept at room temperatures. 

 It was found that by keeping the juice in cold storage at 

 from 32 to 3-5°, the flavour was well retained for long 

 periods. 



The dLstinctive colours and flavours of all fruit juices 

 kept in freezing storage at about- 10° 0. (14° F.) were found 

 to remain practically unchanged during many months, except 

 that a peculiar coagulation of much of the colouring matter 

 appeared in the .juice of the black raspberry. It was possible 

 to concentrate fruit juices to syrups by freezing out the 

 water as ice and centrifugalizing. Characteristic colours and 

 flavours were well retained on concentrating. 



Infusorial earth greafy promotes the filtering of fruit 

 juices, as it retards greatly the clogging of the filter. 



Export of Pigeon Peas from St. Vincent.— 



Mr. W. X. Sands, Agricultural Superintendent, has furnished 

 this Office with the following table givin^; the destination, 

 quantity and value of the exports of pigeon peas from that 

 Colony from December 1, 191.5, to May 31, 1916: — 



Destination. Barrelsof224tti.net. Value at $9 per barrel. 



Barbados 519 f4,fi71-00 



St. Lucia 40 360 



Grenada 33 297 



L)emerara 4 36 



Martinique 3 27 



Trinidad 2 18 



Total 



GOl 



$5,409 



The peas were valued in St. Vincent at §9 per barrel, 

 but sale prices ranged from ii?9 to $12. 



It is of interest to note that of the 601 barrels, Barbados 

 took no less than 519. 



The industry represented by the above figures is more 

 or less an undeveloped one and should be capable of being 

 expanded in islands like Montserrat, Nevis, Anguilla, Barbuda 

 and the Virgin Islands. It should also be possible to do more 

 in regard to the export trade from St. Vincent to Demerara 

 and Trinidad. 



