EFFECTS OF FRUIT ACIDS.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXXX, Issue 46, 14 June 1903, Page 7

EFFECTS OF FRUIT ACIDS.

Many Kinds of Bacteria Are Q,nickl} Dispatched by Lime and Lemon Jwices. , It is a matter of common knowledge • that fruit juices exert a most beneficial effect in the treatment of scurvy and similar ailments, and their action on the typhoid bacillus and the rr!nn bacillus, which are the cause of many forms of ; acute intestinal and other diseases, has 'been studied on a considerable scale by Dr. Reynolds, health commissiorer of Chicago, says the London Telegraph. He finds that the juices of different species of lemons vary very materially in germicidal effect, that from some specimens requiring as much as ten per cent to kill all the exposed germs. Lime juice, apple juice and grape juice all have a. more or less inhibiting effect, but the bottled grape juice sold at grocery j stores gave the most conclusive results. Distilled and tap water were infected with the bacteria, and bottled grape juice added in proportions varying from one to five per cent. Examination showed | that some brands had killed the germs j at the end of the first minute, as did also i the lemon juice of a proper strength. I Strangely enough, the freshly extracted juice of the grape, prepared in the laboratory, had no effect, even in the proportion of 100 per cent.