THE UTILIZATION OF CHERRY BY-PRODUCTS. 
19 
Table VII. — Yield, physical properties, and chemical composition of the volatile 
oils from various fruit sources. 
Source of oil. 
Yield 
from 
press 
cake. 
Color. 
Odor. 
Taste. 
Spe- 
cific 
gravity 
at24C. 
HCn.i 
1.050 
Per ct. 
4.21 
1.012 
7.94 
1.068 
2.20 
1.080 
2.05 
1.050 
1.75 
1.056 
4.80 
1.059 
2.57 
1.058 
2.12 
1.062 
513.7 
Benzal- 
de- 
hyde. 2 
Cherry kernels.. 
Cherry pits 
Peach kernels 4 . 
Apricot kernels '■» 
Prune kernels 4 . 
Bitter almonds i 
B itter- almond oil 
(market sample 2 
years old). 
B itter- almond oil 
(market sample 1 
year old). 
Benzaldehyde (sev- 
eral years old). 
Per cent. 
0.95 
.10 
1.17 
Pale straw. 
Golden yel- 
low. 
Pale straw . 
1.33 
.71 
1.15 
Straw. 
Faint straw. 
....do 
Golden 
Pale yellow . 
Deep yel- 
low. 
Pleasant, 
strong, bit- 
ter-almond - 
like. 
Agreeable 
charac- 
teristic. 
Bitter-almond- 
like, some- 
what irritat- 
ing. 
Aromatic, 
almond-like. 
Strong benzal- 
dehyde. 
Less aromatic 
(fainter than 
above). 
Characteristic, 
mellow. 
Strong and 
penetrating. 
do 
Sweet and 
very pun- 
gent. 
Sweet, strong, 
pungent. 
Sweet and 
pungent. 
Sweet and in- 
tensely pun- 
gent. 
Sweet and 
pungent. 
Sweet, less 
pungent. 
Very pungent. 
Sweetish pun- 
gent. 
Very sweet, 
pungent. 
Per ct. 
3 81.53 
67.95 
73.1 
'88.7 
76 
62 
78.45 
80.6 
77.5 
i Assayed according to the volumetric method of the Pharmacopoeia of the United States, Eighth 
decennial revision, p. 306. Philadelphia, 1907. 
2 Assayed by the sodium bisulphite method. The Pharmacopoeia. Loc. cit. 
8 Assayed immediately after distillation. 
4 Rabak, Frank. Peach, apricot, and prune kernels as by-products of the fruit industry of the United 
States. U.S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Plant Indus. Bui. 133, p. 23, 25, 1908. 
5 Benzoic acid. 
The physical properties do not differ greatly ; in fact, they nearly 
coincide with those of the other oils. In hydrocyanic- acid content the 
cherry oil was found to be somewhat higher than in the other oils, but 
it was nearly within the limits of the Pharmacopoeia, which requires 
not less than 2 nor more than L per cent. The benzaldehyde content, 
which, because of its instability under ordinary means of preservation 
fluctuates noticeably in this class of oils, compares favorably with the 
other kernel oils. The pharmacopceial requirement with regard to 
benzaldehyde content is that it shall not be less than 85 per cent. The 
benzaldehyde content of the cherry oil, although lower than the 
requirement, is not as low as in the two samples of bitter-almond oil 
purchased in the open market, both of which were slightly deficient 
on account of deterioration, which was undoubtedly due to the age of 
the oils. This deterioration in benzaldehyde content is more or less 
rapid, because of the ease with which it oxidizes to benzoic acid. The 
sample of benzaldehyde examined illustrates the change which takes 
place under ordinary conditions. The sample, which originally was 
a pure compound, after standing for several years shows but 77.5 per 
cent of benzaldehyde. The free acidity, calculated as benzonic acid, 
was 13.7 per cent. The benzaldehyde content bears a direct relation- 
ship to the specific gravity ; the higher the benzaldehyde content the 
lower the specific gravity. 
