“ 
2 BULLETIN 632, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
possess considerable value. The seeds of the tomato contain a fatty 
oil of excellent quality, and the seed cake is valuable as a stock food. 
Considerable work has already been done in foreign countries, 
especially in Italy, on the utilization of tomato waste. Battaglia 
(4)* in 1901 investigated tomato-seed oil and reported on its prop- 
erties. Later, Kochs (9), in an investigation of certain residues, 
mentioned tomato-seed oil and discussed its properties, stating that 
17.3 per cent of oil having an agreeable taste and smell could be ob- 
tained from the seeds. 
In the manufacture of tomato products, Italy perhaps leads all 
countries. The industry there has assumed such proportions that 
the problem of the proper disposal of the residues has become an 
important consideration. Perciabosco and Semeraro (12) in 1910 
investigated tomato residues with a view to extracting the fatty oil, 
determining also the industrial value of the oil and the fertilizer 
and feeding values of the residues after extraction. The oil ex- 
tracted by carbon bisulphid was found to have properties similar to 
those of the oil previously reported by Battaglia. The fat-free 
residues were found to be useful for fertilizing purposes. 
Harcourt (6) in 1907 called attention to the tomato refuse ac- 
cumulating in increasing quantities at the canning factories in 
Canada. It was reported that a large portion of the refuse was 
flushed into near-by rivers, but in some cases it was allowed to 
accumulate near the factories, thus becoming a nuisance. Some of 
the refuse was spread over the land as a fertilizer. The manurial 
value was tested and found to compare favorably with barnyard 
manure in the three important elements, potash, phosphoric acid, 
and nitrogen. 
Accomazzo (1) in 1910 stated that in the province of Parma, Italy, 
850,000 quintals (83,660 tons) of tomatoes were used annually. This 
quantity would yield from 11,000 to 12,000 tons of skins and seeds, 
containing about 80 per cent moisture. After removing the greater 
portion of the moisture the residue would amount to about 3,000 to 
4,000 tons, of which about two-thirds are seeds. It is stated that 
these seeds when extracted by pressure yield 18 per cent of oil and 
by solvents 20 per cent. It would therefore be possible to recover 
from 500 to 600 tons of oil from the waste seeds. Tomato-seed oil 
is stated to have a heat value about equal to that of olive oil. When 
treated with driers it acquires good drying properties and is also 
useful in soap making. The press cake is said to have excellent 
nutritive value. 
Fachini (5) also recommends the extraction of oil from the seeds, 
but instead of drying the residue, as proposed by Accomazzo, he 
1 The serial numbers in parentheses refer to “ Literature cited,” pp. 14-15. 






