70 BULLETIN 908, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
TABLE 29.—Temperature of inside of can of sardines processed with regular lot. 
: Near surface of 
Nor ogiank| || Water in boiling 
: Temper- . Temper- 
o Time ature Time aoe 
m. oO allt aie ro 54 
12.25 36 8.30 26 
12.35 47 8.35 36 
12. 42 88 8.40 45 
12. 46 94.5 | 8.46 71 
12.48 99 &. 48 80 
12.50 100 8. 50 91 
8.52 99 
8. 54 99 
| 8.58 99 
9.10 99. 25 
| 
1 This boiling tank was provided with a board cever which was lowered while processing the cans. The 
He eas Ley Siesta DeSne through pipes in bottom of tenk. It boiled freely during the period 
2 Tank uncovered, heated by direct steam. 
The length of time required to reach the boiling point varies with 
certain conditions commonly found. In this method of processing it 
is very important that the cans be completely submerged during the 
entire period. Since it was found that sardines were not always 
uniformly sterile, it would be safer to process for the longer periods 
of time. 
STORING THE SARDINES. 
A portion of each year’s pack of sardines is stored for varying 
periods of time and under varying conditions before it reaches the 
consumer. When held by the packers the sardines are subjected to 
the rigid winters of Maine, as no suitable warehouse exists for storage, 
advantage being taken of cellars, wherever available. When shipped 
they are often frozen, only to be thawed out again upon coming into 
a warmer region, where they may be held at terminals or warehouses 
having relatively high temperatures. Finally, they may remain upon 
the retailer’s shelves for some time, under varying temperature 
conditions. 
Certain differences in the composition of canned sardines, when 
analyses were made directly after processing and after standig for 
different periods of time led to an investigation of the changes occur- 
ring in sardines kept under varying conditions of storage. : 
FORMATION OF AMMONIA AND AMINES. 
The values for ammoniacal nitrogen in fresh and decomposed fish 
as determined by the Nessler method did not agree with the results 
obtained by the titration method. Noticeable increases in the 
amount of total ammoniacal material in packs of fish which had 
stood for a time over the amount of such material found in the same 
packs directly after being processed were also apparent. 
