April 1908.] 



315 



Edible Products- 



YIELD. 



During 1906 experiments were well 

 under way to ascertain the total yield 

 of the roselle plant, but a hurricane in 

 October inflicted so much damage on the 

 plants in the experimental area that 

 accurate data were unobtainable. Hen- 

 ricksen* quotes the yield as four pounds 

 of fruit to each plant, averaging two 

 pounds of calyces, the useful part, and 

 adds, " Plants observed at Pueblo Viejo 

 in sandy loam were estimated to yield 

 double that amount." 



HARVESTING AND MARKETING THE 

 CALYCES. 



In less than three weeks from the time 

 of flowering, the calyces are ready for 

 picking. In South B^lorida the first 

 fruit is gathered about the middle of 

 November. 



It has been already pointed out how 

 the yield may be largely increased by 

 picking— going over the field every few 

 days to pick the full-grown calyces, 

 which will force the plant to send out 

 new flower buds- By these repeated 

 picking the plants are forced to fruit 

 continuously until late in February, 

 whereas otherwise they would cease to 

 bear in December. Moreover, the calyces 

 are more brittle and more easily broken 

 from the plants while young and tender, 

 and in the manufacture of jelly make a 

 lighter red and a more transparent 

 product than those from the more 

 mature fruit- On poor land it would be 

 of advantage to make a small application 

 of fertilizer to the plants in December. 



The fruit is seen at present in loca* 

 markets only and is sold by the quart. 

 Its excellent quality for making a sauce 

 so closely imitating in flavour the cran- 

 berry as to deceive the very elect are not 

 well known by the public, or it would be 

 a formidable rival in the south to that 

 fruit, on which transportation charges 

 are necessarily high owing to the great 

 distance it must be transported. The 

 crisp and juicy appearance of the roselle 

 is diminished by being too long in the 

 hands of the dealer, but this does not 

 indicate deterioration of its useful 

 qualities. 



COMPOSITION AND USES OP THE FRUIT. 



In the roselle it is the large, reddish, 

 fleshly calyces surrounding the seed pod 

 that are used for food. As already 

 stated, a considerable industry has lately 

 been developed in Queensland, where the 

 fruit is made into jam and exported. 

 There is no reason why a similar indus- 

 try should not grow up in the United 

 States. The usefulness of the roselle as 



* Bui. 171, Office of Experiment Stations, p. 38. 



a substitute for cranberry sauce has 

 been emphasized already, and its qual- 

 ities for making jelly are unexcelled. In 

 the United States it would probably 

 become of greatest importance in the 

 manufacture of jelly. 



An analysis of the calyx was made by 

 the food laboratory of the Bureau of the 

 Chemistry, which at the same time 

 made an analysis of the cranberry for 

 comparison, the uses of the two fruits 

 being so similar. It will be seen from 

 these analyses (see table below) that the 

 constituents of the two fruits occur in 

 nearly the same proportions, practically 

 the only difference being that traces of 

 benzoic acid in some form are present in 

 the cranberry, while absent from the 

 roselle. 



COMPARATIVE ANALYSES OP THE COMPO- 

 SITION OP THE ROSELLE AND THE 

 CRANBERRY.* 



Roselle. Cranberry. 

 Per cent. Per cent. 



Wa ... -. 88-91 88-53 



Solids ... ... 11-09 11-47 



Ash -89 -25 



Marc (insoluble matter) 6'67 4'60 



Acid (as malic) ... 2"77 2-74 



Reducing sugar as invert '33 1-90 



Sucrose ... ... -03 '10 



Benzoic acid Absent Present 

 Starch ,, 



In preparing for cooking, take the pod 

 between the thumb and forefinger of 

 the left hand, stem end up ; cut off the 

 stem and the basal end of the calyx to 

 where the seed pod is united with the 

 calyx, when a slight pressure with the 

 fingers holding the pod will force out 

 the seed pod. After preparing in this 

 way, the calyx may be used for making 

 sauce, jam, and transparent, bright red 

 jelly. Many other dishes will suggest 

 themselves to the thrifty housewife. The 

 calyces may also be separated from the 

 seed pods and dried in the sun or in an 

 evaporator, and are in this form, accord- 

 ing: to Mr. O. F. Cook,+ occasionally seen 

 in the markets of the tropics- The juice 

 of the calyces could probably be boiled 

 to a syrup aud used as a flavouring 

 extract at soda fountains, and the fruit 

 might also be used in colouring jellies, 

 jams, or similar products as a substitute 



"Weight of fruit of roselle, 611 grams; cran- 

 berry, 94 gram. Percentage of edible portion: 

 Roselle, consisting of calyx minus the portion of its 

 base which is cut away in removing the seed pods, 

 50 22 ; cranberry, 100. 



I Contributions from United States National Her- 

 barium, Vol. VIII, pt. 2, p. 160. 



