PHILIPPINE FRUITS: THEIR COMPOSITION AND 

 CHARACTERISTICS 



By D. S. Pratt and J. I. del Rosario 



(From the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Bureau of Science, 

 Manila, P. I.) 



Sixteen plates 

 INTRODUCTION 



From the days of the earliest explorer, tropical fruits have been 

 held in high esteem. The reports of those who had eaten these 

 food products were often grossly exaggerated, but they served 

 to stimulate the spread and cultivation of many important varie- 

 ties. Improvements in transportation and a growing demand 

 have resulted in placing many tropical and semitropical fruits 

 in northern markets. Other varieties are equally valuable, and 

 doubtless in time will form the basis of an extensive export 

 trade when methods of preserving and canning are more per- 

 fectly understood. 



Practically no systematic work has been carried out in study- 

 ing the chemical composition of tropical fruits, and few data 

 are available concerning any except the citrus fruits, the banana, 

 and the pineapple. It is hoped that complete analyses with 

 descriptive notes and illustrations of our principal fruits may 

 serve a useful purpose in calling attention to the economic 

 possibilities involved, and aid future work in this important 

 commercial field. 



The term "fruit" as popularly understood includes the edible 

 portion of many shrubs and trees both wild and cultivated. In 

 a narrower sense the berries and vegetables are excluded, al- 

 though the line of demarcation is not sharp and is often depend- 

 ent upon the condition of the food product in question. Thus 

 many fruits in a partially matured state are cooked and served 

 as vegetables. 



The chief characteristics of fruits are their color, texture, 

 odor, flavor, and nutritive properties. All varieties contain a 

 high percentage of water, holding in solution sugars and acids, 

 together with small amounts of mineral matter. The individual 

 odor and taste are dependent upon traces of compound ethers 

 and esters present in amounts that preclude identification in 

 most cases, but which are very important in making the fruit 



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