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BULLETIN 77, HAWAII EXPERIMENT STATION 



No special comment regarding the vitamin G tests is necessary with 

 few exceptions. The records of 1 negative control used for the papava 

 experiments and 1 for the poha experiments were omitted from the 

 summary because they made very unusual gains in weight apparently 

 due to coprophagy. The records of 2 rats fed 2 grams of figs were 

 omitted for the same reason. 



No experiments were made to test the vitamin G content of soursop. 



No final tests were made but preliminary experiments using 3 rats 

 indicate that tamarinds are a good source of vitamin G. Two rats fed 

 1 gram daily gained 11 grams per week and 1 rat fed 0.5 gram daily 

 gained 5 grams per week over a 5-week test period. 



Vitamin C 



Coconut water: It was possible to feed 20 cc. of coconut water only 

 by withholding tap water, so that it was not feasible to give a larger 

 quantity which might consistently have protected the guinea pigs from 

 gross scurvy. 



Figs: Since such a large quantity of figs as 10 grams failed to pro- 

 tect guinea pigs from scurvy, additional experiments were not made as 

 it seemed obvious that figs were a poor antiscorbutic. The tests were 

 made at a good season when the fruit was of fine quality. 



Guavas: The vitamin C content of guavas is probably influenced 

 by the season of the year and the quality of the fruit. For example, 

 animals numbered 262, 266 and 297, which were fed 0.25 gram of guava 

 without seeds near the middle of the guava season, were completely 

 protected from gross scurvy, but animals 278 and 280, which showed 

 moderate and severe scurvy, were fed the same quantity several months 

 later at the very end of the season when the quality of the fruit was 

 poor. About 11 percent of the weight of guavas is seeds so that 1.0 

 gram of whole guavas is equivalent to approximately 0.9 gram of guavas 

 without seeds. Animals numbered 257 and 261 fed 1 gram of whole 

 guavas near the beginning of the fruiting season in 1933 showed a per- 

 fect histological picture, whereas only 2 animals out of a group of 9 fed 

 1 gram of guavas without seeds in the middle of the 1934 season 

 showed no histological changes in the teeth. 



As the "guava juice" (page 36) constituted a watery extract of the 

 guavas, it was not anticipated that its vitamin C value would be par- 

 ticularly high. Four and 5 cc. were first fed daily. It was found that 

 these quantities completely protected the teeth of guinea pigs from 

 histological changes. Of the 13 guinea pigs fed 3 cc. of guava juice 

 all but 3 had the teeth completely protected. These 3 were part of a 

 group of 7 animals fed from juice prepared a year following the juice 

 which was fed to the first 6 animals listed as receiving 3 cc. of guava 

 juice. 



Orange juice: The juice was prepared as for analysis but strained 

 through 2 thicknesses of cheesecloth instead of through a strainer. The 

 results in Table 14 indicate that the juice of Hawaiian oranges has an 

 antiscorbutic value equal to that of good quality California oranges 

 tested simultaneously. 



