PRESERVATION BY DRYING 165 



A large variety of fruits may be preserved by dr)dng 

 if we only have proper means for extracting the water. 

 Indeed, probably any fruit could be thus preserved for 

 future use if we could find a practical method of drying 

 it. To do this the fruit, divided into small pieces, must 

 be subjected to a heat sufficient to dry it rapidly so as 

 to prevent decay, but not sufl&cient to cook it. It is 

 hardly worth while to attempt such work in the ordinary 

 home, for the results are not entirely satisfactory, and 

 dried fruits are easily purchased. Some such method is 

 practical with certain fruits and impractical with others; 

 but it always greatly changes the nature of the fruit. 

 Before it can be used the dried fruit must be soaked 

 with water to soften it, after which it rarely bears much 

 resemblance to the original fruit. Dried apples are quite 

 different from fresh ; the taste of the fresh apple has wholly 

 disappeared, leaving in its place an entirely different flavor. 

 The same is true of practically all fruits preserved by dry- 

 ing. Their mineral content has not been reduced, and 

 this is one of the most valuable aspects of fruit in our 

 diet. But most of us eat fruit for their flavors, rather than 

 for the sake of their dietary value. Dried fruit is much 

 inferior in taste and cannot be used for so many purposes 

 as fresh fruit. The drying of fruits and vegetables often 

 leaves a pulpy, somewhat tasteless substance, which has 

 lost the peculiar charm which gives value to the fresh 

 fruit. 



It must be evident, then, that drying is the most widely 

 adopted method of preserving foods, but it is not equally 

 useful for all kinds. With some it works to perfection. 

 For grains or other foods obtained from seeds it leaves 



