The Effect of Drying and of Sulfur Dioxide upon the Antiscorbutic Property of Fruits.*

The most important antiscorbutic foods are now known to be the fruits and vegetables, and it is usually considered that these foods are chiefly, if not onIy, vahrable for this property when used fresh. Holst and E’riihlich (1) showed that cooking and canning or drying greatly decreased the antiscorbutic value of a variety of foods. Since the danger of scurvy is greatest under those circumstances under which an adequate supply of fresh foods is apt to be difficult to obtain, much interest has always attached to the effect of various methods of preservation upon the vitamin C content of foods. Numerous studies have been made upon the citrus fruit juices, cabbage, milk, potatoes, tomatoes, and a few other fruits and vegetables. In general as indicated by the work of Harden and Zilva (2), Hess and Unger (3), Givens and McClugage (4), and Goss (5), a large proportion of the vitamin is preserved in citrus products dehydrated by suitable means, particularly in UXLO and at relatively low temperatures. Most of these studies have been made upon laboratory products, but a few have dealt with commercial specimens (Goss (5) and Humphrey (6)). A number of tests of dried cabbage has been made by Holst and FrGhlich (I), Cohen and Mendel (7), Delf and Skelton (8), and Ellis, Steenbock, and Hart (9), with varying results, the vitamin being more or less decreased even when the cabbage was dried in carbon dioxide, if the temperature exceeded 65”. The work of