APPLE CIDER 5 



Viscosity 



The ratio of the rate of flow of cider to the rate of flow of water is a measure 

 of viscosity. The determination must be made at a given temperature in 

 order to have the results comparative. In this study, the time required for 

 cider to pass between two marks on a pipette, divided by the time for the same 

 volume of water to pass between the marks — is the value given as the viscosity. 

 The higher the viscosity, the more "body" the juice will have. The body can 

 be determined approximately by the "feel" of the cider in the mouth, but the 

 method described above gives a more definite basis of comparison. 



Viscosity will vary with the quality of the fruit. A hard, ripe fruit usually 

 yields a cider with a low viscosity, while cider made from fruit of the same 

 picking after storage of several months will have a very high viscosity. As the 

 cells break down during storage, the pectin, one of the constituents causing a 

 high viscosity, is more readily extracted with the fruit juice and results in a 

 cider of high viscosity. Because freezing also tends to break the cell walls, 

 cider made from apples which were frozen and subsequently thawed is very 

 oily in consistency and has a high viscosity. 



Pectin 



The alcohol precipitate method as recommended by the A.O.A.C. (1) was 

 used to determine the pectin content of the ciders. As has been mentioned in 

 the previous section, it is the pectin which is the factor responsible for the 

 "body" of a cider and the pectin content of the apple juice depends to a large 

 extent upon the condition of the fruit at the time of pressing. Although apples 

 are rich in pectin, the amount found in cider is low because the juice is cold 

 pressed and pectin is only sparingly soluble in cold. fruit juices. The lowest 

 pectin content in the ciders examined was 0.08 percent in the Northern Spy and 

 Ben Davis ciders made in 1933; the highest was in the Russet cider made in 

 1934. 



Tannin and Coloring Matter 



To determine the exact amount of tannin in a fruit juice would require a 

 very involved procedure. Hence, the method commonly used for the determi- 

 nation of tannin is by titration with a standard potassium permanganate 

 solution using indigo carmine solution as an indicator. Because the potassium 

 permanganate reacts with the coloring matter in the ciders as well as with the 

 tannin, the value obtained is designated as "tannin and coloring matter". 

 The method is given in detail by the A.O.A.C. (1). 



Tannin is an important constituent of apple cider in that it contributes the 

 astringent taste which gives so much character to a good cider. Crab-apple 

 cider had the highest tannin content, 0.25 percent, of any of the varieties 

 tested, as might be expected from the astringent taste of the crab-apple. The 

 other ciders had less than one-third the tannin content of the crab-apple, the 

 maximum being 0.08 percent in the Northern Spy, Mcintosh and Baldwin. 



Total Acid 



This determination was made by diluting 10 cc. of the cider with 100 c.c of 

 distilled water, bringing the solution to a boil, cooling and titrating with 0.1 

 normal sodium hydroxide solution, using phenolphthalein as an indicator. 



Crab-apple cider was found to have the highest total acid content, 0.75 per- 

 cent. Russet was next with a content of 0.61 percent in 1933 and 0.67 percent 

 in 1934. Acidity was calculated as malic acid. 



