228 FICUS CARICA 



Official Part and Name. FICUS ; the dried fruit (B. P.). The 

 dried fruit (Ficus) (I. P.). The dried fruit (U. S. P.). 



General Characters and Commerce. The fruit of the fig is 

 called a syconus. A fig consists of a fleshy, hollow, pear-shaped 

 receptacle, provided with a small orifice at its apex, and bearing 

 upon its inner surface numerous small seed-like fruits, termed 

 achenia. In the unripe state the receptacle is green and tough, 

 and contains an acrid, somewhat bitter, milky juice ; but as it 

 ripens, the receptacle enlarges, becomes softer and more juicy, the 

 acrid milky sap is replaced by a saccharine fluid, and it assumes 

 commonly a purple hue externally, although sometimes a brown 

 or yellow colour, or even remains green. 



On a small scale and in favorable climates figs may be dried 

 on the tree, but for commercial purposes they are always gathered 

 and dried either in ovens, or more commonly by exposure to the 

 sun. When dried, they are either rendered pliant by squeezing and 

 kneading, and are then packed by pressing into drums and boxes, 

 in which state they are called pulled figs ; or they are packed in 

 the state in which they are left after having been dried, when 

 they are termed natural. 



The largest and best figs come from Smyrna, and are known as 

 Smyrna or Turkey Figs ; smaller and less pulpy figs are likewise 

 imported under the name of Greek Figs. The best Smyrna figs 

 are also termed " Eleme Figs." The total imports of figs of all 

 kinds into this country average about 150,000 cwt. annually, 

 representing a money value of about 240,000. Of these about 

 100,000 cwt. come from Asiatic Turkey, and the remainder from 

 Spain, Portugal, and other countries. 



The official Smyrna figs are of an irregular compressed form ; 

 soft, tough, more or less translucent, of a brownish or yellowish 

 colour externally, and covered, in cool weather, with a saccharine 

 efflorescence. They have an agreeable, peculiar, fruity smell ; and 

 a very pleasant sweet taste. 



Composition. The principal constituent of figs is grape sugar, 

 which forms from 60 to 70 per cent, of the dried fruit. It is this 

 sugar which constitutes the efflorescence seen on figs in cool 



