Fruit

Fruit and vegetables may be preserved when in season for use out of season by the following methods:

I. canning, various methods 3. jelly making 5. spicing

2. preserving, various stages 4. pickling 6. salting

7. drying

All fruits and vegetables are not prepared in the same way. Suitable for canning are: a. Fruits pears peaches apricots apples plums pineapple cherries blackberries strawberries raspberries blueberries b. Vegetables peas corn carrots asparagus tomatoes beans beets

Fruits suitable for preserving are: a. Preserve strawberries large currants plums quince grapes gooseberries blackberries cranberries b. Jam strawberries plums elderberries grapes raspberries cranberries blackberries currants c. Marmalades apricot plums peaches apple - sweet, sour crabapple cranberry grapefruit lemon quince orange yellow tomato d. Butters crabapple quince apple grape e. "Honey " (so called) sweet apple lemon quince grapefruit yellow tomato kumquat f. Conserves plums, oranges, and lemon plums, lemon, raisins grapes, lemon raisins, rhubarb figs, rhubarb peach, lemon, orange peach, currants, lemon pears, lemon, ginger root prunes, lemon, orange orange, grapefruit, lemon kumquat, orange cranberries, lemon, raisins nuts in combination with any of the above

Fruits suitable for jelly making are a. Very juicy fruits strawberries raspberries blackberries elderberries plums currants grapes, cultivated and wild b. Less juicy fruits peaches apricots quince cranberries apples - sweet, sour, crabapple

Fruits suitable for pickling are: tomatoes - red, yellow blackberries cucumbers peaches pears peppers - red, green

Vegetables suitable for pickling are: cauliflower cabbage beets onions

Fruits suitable for spicing are: blackberries peaches pears red tomatoes

Fruits suitable for salting are: cucumbers, large and small

Fruits suitable for drying are: currants grapes peaches pears apricots plums prunes cranberries apples - sweet, sour

Fruits suitable for beverages are: grapes currants raspberries elderberries apples - sweet, sour cherries lemons oranges

Preservation of fruits is secured by:

1. Heat and exclusion of air Ex. - canned peaches

2. Exclusion of air but heat not necessary because the material itself is strongly acid. Ex. - canned tomato, canned rhubarb

3. Strong acids.

Ex. - pickled pears

4. Strong brine

Ex. - salted cucumbers

5. Heavy solution of sugar.

Ex. - preserves, jams, conserves, butters, honey, jellies.

Relation To Microorganisms

All the above methods of preserving fruits and vegetables depend upon either destroying, or preventing the action of microorganisms which would cause the food to ferment, decay, or become moldy.

The microorganisms which thus spoil or injure food are certain species of the three groups: a. Molds.

b. Yeasts.

c. Bacteria.

Molds are seen often as yellow, green, or white growths, very beautiful in color and arrangement, upon lemons, oranges, bread, jams, jellies, and sirups.

Some typical forms often found on food are: bread mold - Mucor stolonifer green cheese mold, or blue mold - Penicillium glaucum mold of decaying vegetation : blue green - Aspergillus fumigatus yellow - Aspergillus flavescens black - Aspergillus niger.

Yeasts cannot usually be seen without the microscope, but evidence of their work is shown by fermentation of fruit juices accompanied by bubbles of gas or a loud pop when a cork or cover is removed.

Bacteria are all too small to be seen without a good microscope. The work of bacteria is shown generally by a disagreeable sour taste often accompanied by an unpleasant odor with or without an evolution of gas.

The following experiments will illustrate the work of molds, yeasts, and bacteria, but the detailed study of these organisms and the changes which they bring about in food materials is a science in itself and one of the greatest interest and importance to all students of foods and cookery. The reading and study of Buchanan's Household Bacteriology (which treats of the yeasts and molds as well as the bacteria of economic importance) is especially recommended.