Making vinegar in the home and on the farm

✍ Scribed by Edwin LeFevre

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1924
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 91 KB
• Volume: 198
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0016-0032
• DOI: 10.1016/s0016-0032(24)90378-4

✦ Synopsis

THE soluble solids content, the refractive index, and the sucrose content of the juice of cantaloupes increase and the percentage of starch in the seeds decreases as the melons ripen.

The juice of melons which are mature when picked has a specific gravity of at least 1.o4o, equivalent to IO per cent. solids, a refractive index of at least 55 on the immersion refractometer, and a sucrose content not less than 4.5 per cent. The seeds of such melons contain less than 0. 5 per cent. of starch.

Melons gain in flavor, but not in sweetness, after being picked. O71 storage at low temperatures, such as are found in iced cars, the melons change but little, so that their composition during and immediately after storage indicates their condition when picked. After softening, if kept at ordinary temperatures there is a slight loss in sucrose. After picking and storage, there is a loss of starch in the seeds.