The Drying of Vegetables 



459 



" Comparatively speaking, the evaporating plant has 

 many advantages over the cannery/' writes J. S. Caldwell 

 in his exhaustive bulletin on " The Evaporation of Fruits 

 and Vegetables" (Bull. 148, Wash. Exp. Sta.). "The 

 initial cost of building and equipment necessary to handle 

 a given volume of material is much less, the machinery is 

 less costly and depreciates much less rapidly. The em- 

 ployment of a technically trained, high-salaried supervisor 

 is not necessary.-'^ 



" It must not be forgotten," Dr. Caldwell continues, 

 " that in supplying the actual necessities of life, fruits 

 and vegetables are as indispensable as grains and meats, 

 and that without them it is impossible for human beings 

 to maintain continued normal health. But fruits and 

 vegetables retain all their nutritive value and their health- 

 preserving powers after having been subjected to drying, 

 which eliminates all inedible portions and converts the 

 material into non-perishable form while reducing its weight 

 by three-fourths to seven-eighths." 



Only briefly can the subject of the drying of vegetables 

 be opened here, and mostly by way of suggestion for the 

 home-maker. " The nutritive value of food," writes Pearl 

 MacDonald in Ext. Circ. 61, Pa. State Coll., "is prac- 

 tically unchanged by drying. In addition to the difference 

 in flavor produged by drying, there is usually a difference 

 in color. Green shell peas and beans remain practically 

 unchanged in color; but apples, for example, when pared 

 and exposed to the air are changed to a darker color due 

 to the action of the oxygen of the air upon certain of their 

 elements. According to the laws of nature, this is the re- 

 sult to be expected and everyone should recognize the fact. 



