UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 859 
™£r' Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry ^"R.v< 
J^Y^^U WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief <j£&' < $Gi. 
Washington, D. C. 
September 7, 1920 
THE PROCESS OF RIPENING IN THE TOMATO, CON- 
SIDERED ESPECIALLY FROM THE COMMERCIAL 
STANDPOINT. 1 
By Charles E. Sando, 
formerly Junior Chemist, Horticultural and Pomological Investigations. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Shipments of early tomatoes to northern 
markets 1 ' 
Growing and handling tomatoes in the field . . 3 
Packing and shipping operations 4 
Previous chemical investigations of the 
tomato .' 7 
Experimental material 13 
Methods of analysis 15 
Analytical data concerning progressive 
changes in composition during ripening.. 17 
Comparison of the composition of commer- 
cially picked tomatoes with turning and 
vine-ripened fruit. 21 
Effect of lack of ventilation on ripening 24 
Summary and conclusions 30 
Literature cited 32 
Appendix.— Comparison of the composition 
of "puffy" and normal Livingston Globe 
tomatoes 37 
SHIPMENTS OF EARLY TOMATOES TO NORTHERN MARKETS. 
The shipping of tomatoes grown in Florida to northern markets 
during the winter and spring months is an exceedingly important 
industry. In Table I are presented statistics prepared by the 
Bureau of Crop Estimates and the Bureau of Markets of the United 
States Department of Agriculture, showing the production and 
car-lot shipments of the seven States where the early-tomato crop 
is chiefly grown. 
From the figures shown in Table I it can be seen that Florida 
ships annually more than half of the total quantity of early tomatoes 
forwarded from the seven States specified. Statistics show that 
1 This bulletin gives the results of a portion of the work carried on under the project "Factors affecting 
the storage life of vegetables". The paper was completed after the writer was transferred to the Office 
of Drug-Plant, Poisonous-Plant, Physiological, and Fermentation Investigations of the Bureau of Plant 
Industry. 
The writer wishes to express his special indebtedness to Mr. Thomas J. Peters, of Miami, Fla., for pro" 
Tiding facilities for the field work and for cooperating in other waj-s. He desires also to express his thanks 
and appreciation to Mr. H. H. Bartlett, of the botanical department of the University of Michigan, for 
counsel and suggestions during the progress of the work. 
175085°— 20— Bull. 859 1 
