14 



PROCESSING OF JAPANESE PERSIMMONS. 



TABLE V. Rate of softening of processed and unprocessed Tane-nashi persimmons kept 

 at three different temperatures. 



i The total number of fruits used in each lot is given at the top of each column. 



The persimmons softened after removing from the process decidedly 

 more rapidly at room temperature than did the controls. The refrig- 

 erator temperature delayed the softening of the processed fruit 

 markedly, but as soon as rapid softening began the rate was about 

 the same as that of the control; the curves are practically parallel. 

 In cold storage the processed fruit at first softened less and then more 

 rapidly than the control. In no case was conspicuous injury to the 

 fruit caused by the keeping in carbon dioxid. It must be kept in 

 mind, however, that the data are incomplete, as studies on the 

 behavior of the fruit on withdrawal from cool temperatures are lack- 

 ing. Certain abnormalities, such as darkening of the flesh at bruised 

 places and blackening of the flesh near the calyx, occurred after 29 

 days in refrigerator storage, and it is probable that the persimmons 

 would not have held up well if withdrawn at this time and kept under 

 market conditions. The abnormalities were more frequent among 

 the processed fruits than among the controls. The results of this 

 experiment show that processing is fairly successful with this variety. 

 The fact that a longer time was required for the persimmons to become 

 nonastringent in Washington than in Florida is probably due to differ- 

 ences in temperature. 



Zengi. A large number of the yellow-fleshed Zengi were received 

 late in the afternoon of October 23, and were placed .in process on 

 the following morning. About 1,100 fruits were received,' and of these 

 840 perfectly sound and firm specimens were selected for the experi- 

 ments in processing. They were divided into several lots, the plan of 

 the experiment being identical with that just described for Tane-nashi. 

 Three lots of 100 fruits each were placed in common, refrigerator, and 

 cold storage, respectively, and the remainder placed in process at room 

 temperatures. The average temperatures were practically the same as 



