ANNUAL REPORT, 1945-46 31 



compounds show more than ordinary promise as a superior sterilizing agent for 

 dairy use. A paper on this study has been submitted for publication. 



Effect of Certain Antioxidants on the Flavor and Keeping Properties of 

 Milk and Some of Its Products. (W. S. Mueller.) Further studies have been 

 made on the antioxidative properties of cacao-shell and cocoa powder and cer- 

 tain extracts of these products, by noting their effect in butter oil, with and 

 without added copper. Two accelerated tests, the Modified Schaal Test and the 

 Swift Fat Stability Test, were used and the following determinations were made: 

 Peroxide value, color (indirectly vitamin A), taste, and odor. The cacao anti- 

 oxidant was more effective for butter oil in the presence of copper than in the 

 absence of the metal, and was a potent inhibitor of the pro-oxidant effect of 

 copper. The natural inhibitors of cacao-shell and cocoa powder were success- 

 fully extracted with suitable solvents. Drying the extracts to a powder did not 

 significantly decrease their protective properties. The cacao inhibitor was found 

 to be more potent than the natural inhibitors of wheat germ and of oat flour. 

 A cacao-tannin was isolated from cacao shell and was found to be less potent as 

 an inhibitor than pure tannic acid. 



Study of Packaged Ice Cream. (J. H. Frandsen.) During the year further 

 studies have been made in comparing the palatability of packaged and bulk ice 

 cream under factory, drugstore, and ice cream retail store dipping conditions. 

 Results of studies here and conferences with men in plants indicate that, under 

 ideal conditions and with trained personnel, losses in dipping bulk ice cream 

 may be reduced to from 20 to 30 percent. However, under ordinary conditions 

 and with unskilled scoopers, there is a loss of from 30 to 40 percent in volume 

 from packaging bulk ice cream as compared with the same ice cream machine- 

 packaged directly from the freezer. 



Our research work would indicate that if packaged ice cream is made from mix 

 of the same composition as bulk ice cream, and if the overrun of the packaged 

 ice cream is reduced 15 percent from that of bulk ice cream, the resultant ice 

 cream should be fully as palatable and nutritious as bulk ice cream. This should 

 overcome the prejudice now existing against packaged ice cream. The trend 

 is towards packaged products, and packaged ice cream is in line with this trend. 

 Machine-packaged ice cream can be kept at a lower temperature than bulk ice 

 cream and therefore should reach the home of the cash and carry consumer in a 

 more satisfactory condition than the warmer hand-packaged bulk ice cream. 



DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS 

 Philip L. Gamble in Charge 



Effects of the War and Readjustments in Massachusetts Agriculture. (David 

 Rozman.) The major phase of the work on this project has been completed and 

 the results presented in Bulletin 430 published under the title, "Postwar Re- 

 adjustments in Massachusetts Agriculture." Of special significance among the 

 various readjustments emphasized by the results of the study is the reconstruc- 

 tion of land resources in farming areas. Other important facts and recommenda- 

 tions brought out by the study are: 



1. More than half of the commercial farming units in Massachusetts fail to 

 meet desirable requirements of income for farm families. 



2. The greatest need is for the reconstruction of substandard farming units 

 into efficient, economic family farms capable of providing an adequate level of 

 living under modern conditions. 



