13 
serve the color in order to realize the full value of the fruit. The 
Chinese sometimes sprinkle the fruits with a weak salt solution and 
pack them in bamboo, sealed at each end with clay, for shipment to 
distant markets. 1 In experiments at this station it was found possible 
to keep the fruits in distilled water for about two weeks with only 
slight deterioration in appearance and flavor, a practice sometimes 
followed in the Orient. Refrigeration, where it is available, furnishes 
the best means of preserving the litchi for a limited period in its 
natural state. No experiments on the prolonged use of refrigeration 
have been reported. Fruits shipped in refrigeration from this station 
to San Francisco and thence without artificial cooling to Washington, 
D. C, and to Florida, are reported to have arrived in good condition, 
'although some loss in color must have occurred after the fruits were 
removed from refrigeration. Refrigerated fruits under observation in 
transit from Honolulu to San Francisco, and still others kept in 
Honolulu, showed no loss in color or flavor. These were held in 
refrigeration about two weeks before examination. There is no 
doubt that refrigeration will provide a very satisfactory method for 
placing upon American markets the litchi crop grown in Florida, 
California, Hawaii, Porto Rico, or Cuba. 
Litchi "nuts," which are simply the dried fruits, are prepared either 
by sun drying or by artificial heat, the smi-dried "nuts" usually 
commanding the higher price. The drying process begins very soon 
after the fruits are exposed to free ventilation and to direct sunlight. 
A large part of the litchi crop of China is marketed in the dried form 
and finds its way to many parts of the world. Considerable quan- 
tities of the fruit also are canned in sirup. 
THE LITCHI AS FOOD. 
THE FRESH FRUIT. 
An analysis of fresh litchis, made in June, 1915, by Miss Alice R. 
Thompson, assistant chemist of this station, gave the following 
results : 
Analysis of fresh litchis. 
Per cent. 
Edible portion 51 
Waste (seeds and shell) 49 
Total solids 20. 92 
Insoluble solids 1. 79 
Ash 541 
Acids as sulphuric acid 16 
Protein 1. 15 
Reducing sugars 12. 5 
Sucrose 2.8 
Total sugars 15. 3 
Direct polarization at 29° 0., °V, 0.3. 
Invert polarization at 29° C, °V, 3. 2. 
s U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Plant Indus., Plant Immigrants No. 111-112 (1916). p. 91G. 
