12 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 338 



12 percent at storage temperatures of 46° — 48° F. However, at temperatures 

 below 48° F., the cabbage lost one-third of its vitamin C in 84 days' storage. 

 Tressler and Mack (212) showed that the vitamin C content of peas decreased 

 with maturity. Snap beans, peas, and spinach rapidly lost their ascorbic acid 

 if held at room temperature. Refrigeration reduced the losses. Izumrudova 

 (98) ascertained that marked losses in the vitamin C of potatoes occurred 

 during storage at 36.5° — 37.4° F. However, when frozen at 6.8° F. or lower, 

 no loss occurred. According to Pett (165) potatoes lost vitamin C and 

 glutathione rapidly at 59°, 50°, and 41°F. for 20 to 30 days, and then at a 

 much slower rate. Yarusova and Mikhailina (230) found that 2 months' 

 storage of potatoes at 24.8° to 39.2° F. had no effect on vitamin C activity. 

 Garlic after storage contained no C according to Yarusova and Yanovska (232). 

 That onions lose C on storage was shown by Shepilevska and Izumrudova 

 (190). Woods (224) reported that immature potatoes were twice as high in 

 C as mature ones and found no loss of C in storage in 3 to 8 months. 



Jones and Nelson (100) showed that tomatoes increased somewhat in vitamin 

 C as the fruit developed. Ethylene treatment had no effect. This was also 

 proved by Clow and Marlatt (23) who determined that tomatoes picked 

 green and allowed to ripen develop the full vitamin-C potency of the vine- 

 ripened tomato. In this laboratory (127) work on tomatoes showed that the 

 large green fruit is nearly as rich in C as the fully ripe. Storage of ripe tomatoes 

 for 20 days had little effect on the C content so long as the fruit remained firm 

 and free from decay. Ascorbic acid determinations on 98 varieties and strains 

 of tomatoes in 1936 showed variations from 3.2 to 8.6 units per gram, with an 

 average of about 5.5 units per gram. 



Mack, Fellers, Maclinn, and Bean (129) found a marked loss in the vitamin 

 C of orange beverages upon standing 20 to 44 hours at 75.20° F. This loss 

 was much reduced at 40° F. In general, commercial orange drinks were 

 only fair sources of vitamin C. Sah, Ma, and Hoo (181) reported that Chinese 

 orange juices deteriorated rapidly in C content in storage. Orange crush, a 

 commercial orange sirup, lost very little C in 3 months according to Koch and 

 Koch (105). They found that in 3 months, even at cold storage temperatures, 

 unstrained and unsweetened juice lost nearly all its C. Von Hahn (77) found 

 German commercial orangeades of low C content. Hassan and Basili (83) 

 reported that lime juice lost all of its C when stored in the refrigerator for 2 

 months. Vegetable juices, because of their high pH values and active oxidative 

 enzyme systems, rapidly lose their vitamin C on short storage. For example, 

 Wojahn and Wirth (1771 found no C in commercial spinach, cucumber, horse- 

 radish, carrot, and celery juices. Some vitamin A was present. 



Cultrera (29) discovered that the use of sulfur dioxide in lemon juice at a 

 concentration of 0.035 per cent, completely destroyed the vitamin C in 98 hours. 

 The addition of 50 percent sugar to lemon juice as a preservative retained the C 

 without loss for 180 days. Similarily, the preservation of raw black currants in 

 sugar protected the C for at least 9 months, according to Shelesnii and Kanevska 

 (189). However, they found cooked black currant jam entirely devoid of C. 

 Yanovskaya (226) showed that the use of sulfur dioxide in black currant juice 

 and cabbage juice had a preserving action on C. A special vitamin-C jam made 

 with pine needle concentrate lost no C in four months' storage. 



