VITAMIN C 199 



vitamin C in the different brands, with the best equalling, and the 

 poorest containing about half as much vitamin C as, the freshly pre- 

 pared sauerkraut. Because of lack of uniformity in the methods used 

 in the manufacture of the sauerkraut tested, it was not possible to 

 determine what factors were responsible for the loss of vitamin C in 

 the poorer samples. 



Campbell and Chick (1919) studied the effect of canning upon 

 the vitamin C content of cabbage and string beans. The vegetables 

 were washed in cold water, blanched, cold dipped, and packed into 

 lacquered cans, which were then nearly filled with boiling water, her- 

 metically sealed and sterilized by exposure to steam at 100° C. for 

 one and one-half hours in the case of cabbage, and on two successive 

 days, to a total period of two and one-half hours in the case of the 

 beans. The cabbage was tested two weeks, and the beans three months 

 after canning. The conclusions drawn from this study were summarized 

 as follows : *Tn the process of canning vegetables the greater part of 

 the original antiscurvy value of the raw vegetable is destroyed. In the 

 case of runner bean pods (string beans) the loss is estimated at about 

 90 per cent of the original value; in the case of cabbage at about 70 

 per cent of the original value. . . . This loss is primarily due to the 

 destruction of antiscurvy material occurring during the heating involved 

 in the process of canning. A further loss may be expected to take place 

 during the period of storage. 



Delf (1920) compared the antiscorbutic properties of the freshly 

 expressed juices of the cabbage, the "swede" (rutabaga), and the 

 orange in the raw state and after heating. With the basal ration used, 

 the minimal daily doses of the raw juice required for the adequate 

 protection of the young guinea pigs was about 1 cubic centimeter of 

 cabbage, 2.5 cubic centimeters of rutabaga and 1.5 cubic centimeters of 

 orange juice, respectively. After the juices had been heated at 100° C. 

 for an hour in small flasks stoppered with cotton wool plugs the orange 

 juice showed no loss in potency, while there were required twice as 

 much of the juice of the rutabaga and at least 7.5 times as much of 

 the juice of the cabbage as before heating. Almost as much loss in 

 potency of the cabbage juice seemed to have occurred after heating 

 only twenty minutes. The rutabaga and orange juices were also heated 

 for an hour in the autoclave at 130° C. ; protection was then secured 

 with 10 cubic centimeters of the rutabaga and 3 cubic centimeters of 

 the orange juice. The relatively high stability of the vitamin C of these 

 juices at 130° C. in the absence of air led Delf to suggest at this time 

 "that there may be advantage in adopting methods of canning fruit or 



