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lies in heaps before drying, it will mould. The custom is to throw it 

 immediately into a dish of water ; it is then ready for the uncoating or 

 peeling operation ; this is done by hand. . . . 



Peeling Ginger. 



Ginger-peeling is an art, and there are many expert peelers in 

 Jamaica. The ginger knife is simply a narrow-edge blade riveted to the 

 handle. In large operations an expert peels between the fingers of the 

 hands, less experienced hands peeling the other portions. Examina- 

 tion of a transverse section of ginger will show the importance of the 

 operation. There is an outer striated skin under which there are 

 numerous layers of very thin-walled cork cells. This layer contains 

 numerous oil cells, the oil cells being most numerous at the bud points. 

 The oil contained in these cells, in specimens fresh from the ground, 

 is almost colourless, very pungent and exceedingly aromatic. It 

 becomes yellow very quickly on exposure to the air, and even upon 

 drying without removing the epidermis, its delicate aroma is found to 

 be fleeting. On drying the ginger the contents of these cells appear 

 as yellow, pithy mass. (It has been stated that this colouring matter 

 is identical with that of Curcuma). As this cork layer is the seat of 

 the greatest amount of oil and resin cells, it will readily be seen that 

 the deeper the peeling so much the more of these substances will be 

 carried away with the epidermis, and more cells opened from which 

 these principles may be excluded. 



As fast as peeled, the roots are thrown into water and washed. The 

 purer the water and the more freely it is used, the whiter will be the 

 product. Generally a very little water washes a great deal of ginger. 

 The hands are peeled during the day, and allowed to remain in the 

 water over night. This water acquires a slimy feeling and, if concen- 

 trated, becomes mucilaginous and acquires a warm and aromatic taste. 

 The natives claim that this process soaks out the " fire and poison" from 

 very hot ginger. I placed some pieces in a stream of running water 

 for twelve hours and succeeded in making them several shades lighter in 

 colour. This sample proved to be less pungent to the taste, and it is 

 quite possible the force of the water carried away some portion of the 

 aromatic principles. 



A few planters use lime juice in the wash water. This gives a whiter 

 root, having some solvent action on the colouring matter, but, as the 

 lime juice contains saccharine and pectose matter, it prevents drying, 

 and mildew follows. In another experiment I supplied the natives 

 with citric acid, vinegar and acetic acid. They all worked fairly well, 

 citric acid being the best whitening agent, but it was reported that the 

 process was expensive and troublesome. 



It is generally stated that ginger is deprived of its coat by being 

 plunged into boiling water before being scraped. This practice is not 

 used to any extent in Jamaica. Its effect is to sweU the starch and 

 bassorin- like gums. I found that after keeping the freshly-pulled root- 

 stocks in boiling water for an hour they were considerably swollen and 

 the steam was filled with the aroma of the ginger. Under this treat- 

 ment the coating comes off easily ; but if the action of the boiling water 

 is prolonged, the starch and fibre are acted upon, the product dries hard 



