VITAMINS OF CRANBERRIES 7 



scurvy. Negative roritrols died in from 26 to 36 d.ays with an average Sherman 

 scurvy score of 19. 



Becauseof the dislike of guinea pigs for cranberries, it was necessary in all the 

 vitamin C assays toexpress the juice and finely divided pulp from fresh, frozen, and 

 soaked evaporated cranberries, and to force-feed the animals by pipette. All sam- 

 ples were freshly prepared daily immediately before feeding. In cooked and canned 

 cranberries, the pulp freed from skins was likewise fed by pipette. In order to 

 be assured that each animal received its full share, weighings were made before 

 feeding and several times during the feeding process until the required weight was 

 reached. 



The results obtained on vitamin Care presented in Tables 1 to 5 and Figures 1 

 to 5. In general, these data are largely self-explanatory and require only brief 

 discussion. Only certain representative results are shown in the curves, but all 

 the data are summarized in the tables. 



Table 1. — Vitamin C Content of Raw Cranberries 



*Supply exhausted at 6(t day> 



Frcsli and Frozen Cranberries 



Several significant deductions can be drawn from Table 1 and Figure 1. Fresh 

 cranberries of Early Black, Howes, and Perry Red varieties are very good sources 

 of vitamin C, the minimum protective portion being close to 4 grams. There 

 appears to be but little variation in vitamin C content due to differences in season 

 or variety. For example, Early Black and Perry Red varieties differ greatly 

 botanically, yet show similar vitamin C activity. The cranberry thus contains 

 one-third to one-half as much vitamin C as the orange or tomato and is comparable 

 with such foods as blueberries (14), pineapple (25), peaches (19), and some varie- 

 ties of apples (12, 5). 



