DEHYDRATION OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 81 
type has advantages and disadvantages. For example, the rectangu- 
lar carton does not permit, with the same ease, as tight a seal as does 
the cylindrical carton, but it may be packed tighter and bought 
“knocked down.” The cylindrical cartons will not pack as tight 
and are supplied to the packer “‘set up,” thus requiring more storage 
space. 
The use of paper containers permits the automatic assembling, 
lining, filling, weighing, sealing, labeling, and wrapping of pack- 
ages. The economical use of machinery for these purposes depends, 
however, upon volume production. Makers of such machinery 
state that its employment is justified only when from 3,000 to 15,000 
packages, all exactly alike, are handled daily. The product must be 
of a free-flowing character if automatic weighing machinery is to be 
used. 
DETAILED DIRECTIONS FOR DRYING 
Methods recommended for the preparation and drying of the prin- 
cipal fruits and vegetables, together with data on waste and yield, 
are given in Table 6. More detailed directions for this work are 
given in the following pages: 
FRUITS 
APPLES 
Firm-flesh, late-maturing varieties are more suitable for dehydra- 
tion than soft-flesh apples. The white-flesh varieties and those that 
bleach readily in the fumes of sulphur have a clean white appearance 
when dehydrated, which adds to their market value. Apples of 
the medium and lower grades are dried in years of normal production, 
but when large production causes low prices for the fresh fruit, better 
grades are used. 
Apples should be mature but not overripe. The picking and 
handling should be done with great care in order to minimize bruis- 
ing. Bruised spots become discolored and must be removed from 
the fruit when uniform color is desired. 
The fruit is pared and cored by machine in one operation, trimmed 
by hand, cut into the desired form by machine, trayed, sulphured, 
and dried. As apple tissue discolors rapidly upon exposure to the 
air, the cut fruit is covered with cold water or weak saline solution 
between succeeding steps of the preparation. Apples are commonly 
dried in the form of ring slices, pie slices, or cubes. 
APRICOTS 
The most desirable flavor of the apricot is not developed until the 
fruit is fully ripe, but in this condition it is difficult to handle. There- 
fore, apricots should be dehydrated just before they become so soft 
that they are mashed or lose their shape during preparation and 
drying. At this time the color is nearly uniform throughout, and 
the slightly astringent flavor of the less mature fruit is absent. 
Apricots are never peeled before drying. The remaining proc- 
esses in their preparation and drying are similar to those for peaches. 
