STUDIES OF CRANBERRIES DURING STORAGE. 



81 



ing the chamber with running water, and at others by carrjdng on the 

 runs in a cool basement. A warm room, such as the laboratory, served 

 for the higher temperatures. 



The results given in the following table are selected from a large num- 

 ber of trials, and are those in which the fruit, before and during the ex- 

 periment, underwent a narrow range of temperature. 



Table V. — Exhalation of Carbon Dioxide by One Kilogram of Cran- 

 berries in One Hour. 



Surroundings. 



Temperature ■ Determina- 

 (Degrees C). tions. 



Milligrams 

 CO2. 



Packed snow, 

 Cold room, 

 Running water. 

 Running water. 

 Warm room. 

 Warm room. 

 Warm room. 



1-3 

 6-7 

 9-11 

 11-13 

 17-20 

 19-21 

 22-25 



3.7 

 7.0 

 7.7 

 9.7 

 15.4 

 16.9 

 18.7 



It -ndll be readily seen that the amount of carbon dioxide exhaled doubled 

 with a rise of 10° C. in temperature, which is in accord with the general 

 law for the acceleration of chemical activity. 



The temperatures of practical importance are those of cold storage, 

 cool storehouses and warm rooms, or temperatures of 1° to 3°, 9° to 11°, 

 and 20° to 25° C. Cranberries in a warm room are respiring from four to 

 five times as fast as fruit in cold storage, while the fruit in a cool store- 

 house is twice as active as in cold storage. 



These respiration experiments serve to confirm and explain the disap- 

 pearance of sugar in the cranberries during storage and the increase in 

 such loss at higher temperatures. The rate of respiration helps to explain 

 the asphyxiation of the cranberry described by Shear and Stevens. 



By packing cranberries in glass jars and then measuring the amount of 

 water required to fill the air spaces remaining, it was found that in tightly 

 packed barrels of the fruit there could not be more than 75 cubic inches 

 of air for each quart of berries. Since only one-fifth of the air consists of 

 ox^'gen, it was calculated that in about thirty-six hours, at the cool tem- 

 perature of 10° C. (50° F.), the cranberries would exhaust the oxj^gen and 

 replace it ^v^th exhaled carbon dioxide. Therefore, if there were no ex- 

 change of air between the outside and the inside of a barrel of cranberries, 

 it would be only a few hours before asphyxiation would begin. Fruit, 

 however, does not die as quickly as animals in the absence of air. There 

 is a form of respiration called intracellular respiration, by wloich sugars 

 decompose to alcohol and carbon dioxide. This is alwaj^s the result with. 



