January, 1926 
Washington, D. C. 
COLD STORAGE OF FLORIDA GRAPEFRUIT * 
By Lon A. Hawkins, Physiologist, and WILLIAM R. BarceEr, Assistant Physiolo- 
gist, Office of Horticultural Investigations, Bureau of Plant Industry 
CONTENTS 
Page Page 
Experimental work_______--_-_--_--~_. 2 | Experimental work—Continued. 
First experiment_____________--~_ Third experiment.—--_._.._______ 4 
Second experiment________-____~_ 3 | General discussion__-__-___-_________ 5 
The steadily increasing production of grapefruit in Florida, which 
rose from 3,200,000 boxes in 1918-19 to 8,000,000 boxes in 1923-24, 
tends to furnish the market with more of this fruit than can readily 
be absorbed during its regular season. Occasional periods of over- 
supply, in which the fruit does not sell for enough to pay the cost 
of marketing, have occurred all too frequently in the last few 
years. 
In an attempt to lengthen the season for the distribution and con- 
sumption of grapefruit, investigations on the storage of this fruit 
were begun in 1917. In the experimental work? it was found that 
cold storage improved the flavor of the fruit, that the bitter principle 
was broken down and the acid content decreased, while the sugar con- 
tent remained about the same. Fruit in cold storage, however, had a 
tendency to pit; that is, to become covered with sunken brown spots 
after being held six weeks to two months, and it was necessary to 
work out some method to prevent this pitting in order to make cold 
storage commercially practicable. The method found to control this 
pitting was to cure the fruit by exposing it to a temperature of 65° 
to 80° F. with a relative humidity from 55 to 65 per cent for one 
to two weeks. Grapefruit cured in this way has been held three to 
six months without developing sufficient pitting to injure its com- 
mercial value. . 
1 The writers wish to thank the Florida Citrus Exchange for its hearty cooperation in 
this work. The fruit for these experiments was supplied by that organization. 
2 HAWKINS, L. A., and Maengss, J. R. Some changes in Florida grapefruit in storage. 
In Jour. Agr. Research, vol. 20, pp. 3857-373. 1920. 
Hawkins, L. A. A physiological study of grapefruit ripening and storage. Jn Jour. 
Agr. Research, vol. 22, pp. 263-279, illus. 1921. 
60947—26 
