26 



BULLETIN 85fl, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



fruit ripened without wrapping. The acid content of fruit ripened 

 without ventilation shows an increase of approximately 138 per cent 

 over that of vine-ripened fruit; that of fruit ripened while wrapped 

 with one paper, an increase of approximately 102 per cent; and that 

 of fruit ripened while wrapped with three papers, an increase of about 

 58 per cent. The soluble carbohydrate content for fruit ripened 

 without ventilation shows a decrease of nearly 21 per cent compared 

 with normal fruit; that of fruit ripened while wrapped with one 

 paper, a decrease of nearly 5 per cent; and that of fruit ripened 

 while wrapped with three papers, a decrease of nearly 6 per cent. 



The data presented also bring out the fact that green tomatoes 

 ripened when exposed to air and unwrapped are superior in taste 

 and chemical composition to the same fruit ripened when wrapped 

 with paper. 



Several experiments were carried out in order to determine what 

 effect lack of ventilation produced on the normal color of the tomato. 

 Since they all yielded the same results, it will suffice to present the 

 figures from one. Two large glass jars were filled with green fruit 

 and cardboard covers placed over each. Unwrapped fruits were 

 placed in baskets as checks. Both lots were held at room tempera- 

 ture and examined at the same time. (Table VIII.) 



Table VIII. — Effect of lack of ventilation on the normal coloring of tomatoes held at 



room temperature. 





21 fruits in bottles 

 (no ventilation). 



31 fruits in baskets (ventilated). 



Time of examination. 



Green. 



Turning. 



Green. 



Colored. 





Turning. 



Pink. 



Red. 



Total. 





21 





6 



10 



6 

 5 



9 

 a 26 



25 





21 



31 















a 14 soft. 



These results would seem to indicate that lack of ventilation 

 retards ripening and the consequent formation of pigment in the 

 tomato. It was noticed that the tomatoes kept in jars were firmer 

 than those left exposed to the air. Hill (24) records a similar 

 condition in the case of peaches held in an atmosphere of carbon 

 dioxid (C0 2 ). His explanation is that C0 2 evidently prevents the 

 hydrolysis of the pectin to which peaches owe their hardness. This 

 may also be the case with tomatoes. An attempt was made to 

 duplicate the results presented above by using a larger closed chamber 

 and also by wrapping the fruit in paper, but no concordant data 

 were obtained. There are hardly sufficient data to justify making 

 any statement as to the effect of wrapping on the color formation. 

 It is often noticed that tomatoes picked green and ripened arti- 



