UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



CIRCULAR NO. 50 



WA^HiisirTOM n r ISSUED DECEMBER, 1928 



WASHINGTON, D. C. REVISED OCTOBER, 1931 



PROXIMATE COMPOSITION OF FRESH FRUITS 



By Charlotte Chatfield, Associate Specialist in Foods and Nutrition, and 

 Laura I. McLaughlin, formerly Nutrition Chemist, Division of Foods and 

 Nutrition, Bureau of Home Economics 



CONTENTS 



Introduction . 



Page 

 _. 1 



Definition of terms— Continued. 



Fiber _ 



Sugars 



Page 



Definition of terms 



2 



3 





2 



3 





3 



Acid 



Fuel value 



4 



Water 



3 



3 



4 



Protein, fat, and ash 



Accuracy and limitations of the figures... 



4 



Total carbohydrates 



3 















INTRODUCTION 





Need for reliable information on the proximate composition of foods 

 has increased since the last revision of Atwater and Bryant's bulletin. 1 

 Analyses made before 1900 still form the basis for almost all dietary 

 calculations on the protein, fat, and carbohydrates of foods, and there 

 has been a growing demand recently for new summary tables. 



Proximate analyses of fruits since 1900 have supplemented to a 

 considerable extent the data in Atwater and Bryant's compilation, 

 providing figures on several fruits not included in their list, and con- 

 firming or modifying the earlier results. In the present study data 

 on fresh fruits have been brought together from a large number of 

 sources, published and unpublished, too many to enumerate. Most 

 of the figures represented in the earlier summary have been included. 

 Many of the unpublished data have been contributed by the labor- 

 atories of this department, particularly those in the Bureau of Plant 

 Industry, the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, and the Food and Drug 

 Administration. Other material has been supplied by the various 

 agricultural experiment stations and colleges and by individuals. 



As the figures are intended to represent the composition of the fruits 

 as they are eaten, data from analyses of normally ripened and market 

 fruits have been combined. No analyses of fruits have been included 

 unless the report stated or clearly implied that the fruit was mature or 

 in good marketable condition. Fruit juices are the fresh pressed 

 juices from sound fruits, and are unsweetened and undiluted. 



Data were taken only from sources that were considered reliable, 

 and the figures were examined for evidences of error in the results 

 reported. Most of the later analyses that have been chosen were 

 made according to the methods of the Association of Official Agri- 



i Atwater, W. O., and Bryant, A. P. the chemical composition of American food materials. 

 U. 8. Dept. Agr., Off. Expt. Stas., Bui. 28, 87 p., illus. 1899. (Revised ed. Reprinted 1906.) 



181332°-*ft 1 



