FRUIT-CURING METHODS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20537, 11 April 1930, Page 5

FRUIT-CURING METHODS.

THE USE OF SULPHUR.

A Californian expert says the curing, and preservation of fruit for drying by exposure to the fumes of burning sulphur has been carried on for many, many years. In fact, it has been practised in California from the very beginning of the fruit industry, and is to-day still the standard method of dried fruit preservation. The handling of fresh fruit- and the subsequent cutting and drying expose it to a great variety of moulds and bacteria. Without some preservation, this dried fruit would bo very susceptible to mould, discoloration, fermentation and decay, especially so if moisture is present. Even though sulphuring does not destroy all of the micro-organisms on the dried fruit, the resultant preservative formed iipon the fruit prevents, to a great extent, their future development. Fresh fniit varies a great deal in appearance and composition, depending upon the degree of ripeness and many other factors. To dry fruit without the preservative action of sulphuring would result in turning out decidedly variable and unattractive dark-coloured* products. '.I he buying public much prefers uniformly and light-coloured dried fruits that are clean and brilliant in appearance. Sulphuring not only improves the colour of fruit by ifs bleaching net ion ;ind is of great benefit in dispelling spots and the dark colours usually present, but it also preserves the natural bright colour of properly ripened fruit. Dried fruit that has been sulphured will keep exceptionally well, and at the samo time can carry a much higher moisture content than unsulphured fruit. It has been claimed that this semi-moist fruit containing the sulphur preservative reaches the consumer in a condition much more nearly approaching that of the original fresh fruit than when it has been dried without sulphuring to a point of extreme dryness and hardness: The explanation of this is that the higher moisture content and preservation of sulphured fruit prevent the changing of its chemical constituents. At any rate, there can be no doubt that the consumer of dried fruits much prefers the attractive and well-preserved sulphured article. There can be no reasonable objection to the use of properly sulphured fruit, and Iho complaints made against the small amount of preservative present are largely mythical. The value, of sulphur curing has been universally endorsed, and the presence of the small amount of sulphur preservative, formed upon the fruit is allowable under (lie National Food, and Drugs Act. v