DESCRIPTION OF EXPERIMENTS. 



EXPERIMENT 1, JULY 30, 1909. 



In this experiment Red Spanish pineapples were dried with and 

 without previous steaming and no sugar was used. The fruit was 

 trimmed by cutting off the crowns, base slices, and the outside of the 

 pips. They were then cut into round slices about three-eighths of 

 an inch thick, weighed, and spread in single layers on trays. The 

 steaming was conducted in a shallow box of galvanized iron in which 

 the trays carrying the sliced fruit were placed. The fruit was then 

 dried for about nineteen hours at from 65 to 70 C. The original 

 weights of the fruit slices, time of steaming, and yields of dried fruit 

 were as follows: 



Weight of fresh fruit compared with that of dried product. 



The unsteamed dried slices were opaque and of a very pale-yellow 

 color, almost white. The two lots of steamed dried fruit were trans- 

 lucent and of a much darker yellow. All of the fruit was considerably 

 overdried. The slices held their shape well during drying and were 

 rich in pineapple flavor. They were brittle, acid, and not very pala- 

 table on account of lack of sugar. 



EXPERIMENT 2, JULY 30, 1909. 



In this case the fruit was dried after standing with sugar. Slices 

 of the same lot of fruit used in Experiment 1 were packed in layers 

 with granulated sugar in an open-top, enamel-lined tin can about 6 

 inches in diameter and 7 inches high, provided with a tightly fitting 

 cover. The slices weighed 1,827 grams and 1 kilogram of sugar was 

 used. The fruit and sugar were allowed to stand overnight, a period 

 of about nineteen hours. During this time the slices contracted in 

 volume and the sugar disappeared. Much sirup formed, consisting 

 of sugar dissolved in juice. This sirup weighed 1,230 grams, equal to 

 43.5 per cent of the slices and sugar. The sugared slices were placed 

 on trays and dried for about fifteen hours at from 65 to 70 C. 

 After drying they weighed 532 grams, equal to 29.1 per cent of the 

 original pulp. The dried product was soft, sugary, and delicious in 

 flavor, retaining fully the aroma and taste of the pineapple. The color 



[Cir. 57] 



