ANNUAL REPORT, 1936 69 



DEPARTMENT OF HORTICULTURAL MANUFACTURES 

 W. W. Chenoweth in Charge 



Technological and Nutritional Investigations on New England Apples 

 and Apple Products. (C. R. Fellers, J. A. Clague, and A. S. Levine.) Re- 

 search on cider and cider products has progressed to the point where a bulletin 

 on the subject has been published (No. 336). 



The study of the suitability of important Massachusetts varieties of apples 

 for baking, sauce, pie, and cider manufacture has been continued using Bald- 

 win, King, Northern Spy, Roxbury Russet, Mcintosh, Cortland, Ben Davis, 

 Rome, Rhode Island Greening and Jonathan varieties. 



Using human subjects, a study is under way to ascertain the effect of eating 

 apples on urinary acidity and blood alkali reserve. Preliminary results with 

 Mcintosh apples show that the apple does not affect the acidity of the urine 

 or lower the blood alkali reserve. Baldwin apples are now being used in similar 

 controlled feeding experiments on young men. 



Successful canning of oven-baked apples has been accomplished in this 

 laboratory. The best varieties for this purpose are Jonathan, Rome, York 

 Imperial, and King. The fruit should be firm and sound for baking. The 

 cores are removed and the skins scored before placing in the oven. After 

 cooling, the baked apples are packed into cans with a 50 percent sugar sirup 

 and finally processed for 30 minutes at 212° F. This is an excellent product 

 and one which should prove very popular. 



Progress has been made on the development of a simple yet effective and in- 

 expensive method of preparing an apple pectin concentrate for home use in 

 jam and jelly making. This investigation includes a study of extraction and 

 clarification methods of apple pectin and its concentration and preservation 

 for home use. Many farmers grow their own apples and it is believed that an 

 inexpensive method of extracting pectin from the fruit will be welcomed. 



Mr. Julius Novick, a graduate student, has done creditable work in the 

 preparation of apple table sirups. Some of these products are of good quality, 

 clear, palatable, and of good flavor. In order to keep a light color the pH of 

 the sirup must be kept slightly acid. Most of the malic acid is precipitated 

 out by the use of lime. 



Nutritive Value of Frozen Foods. (C. R. Fellers, C. F. Dunker, and D. 

 DeFelice.) Sweet corn at the eating stage contains approximately 40-50 

 units of vitamin C per ounce and is, therefore, a fairly good source of this 

 vitamin. Furthermore, the vitamin C in sweet corn is very stable and little 

 is lost either on storage in the husk for two days or on cooking. Sweet corn may 

 be quick-frozen, either on the cob or as whole-grain kernels with very little loss 

 of vitamin C. Canned whole-grain sweet corn retains its antiscorbutic activity 

 to a greater degree than canned cream-style sweet corn. Canned lye-hominy 

 contained very little vitamin C. A paper covering this study is now in press 

 (Food Research 2: No. 1. 1937). 



Lima beans may lose 30 percent of their vitamin C after picking and during 

 shipment to market. When quick-frozen, fresh lima beans retain their vitamin 

 C very well. The principal loss occurs during the blanching process. Lima 

 beans lose a considerable amount of vitamin C during the canning process. 

 Freshly picked lima beans contain 500 units per ounce and are an excellent 

 antiscorbutic. The mature beans contain only traces of vitamin C. 



The results of the investigation on frozen peas are published (Amer. Soc. 



