LEMON CURING PLANT

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19978, 1 July 1939, Page 14

LEMON CURING PLANT

IN FULL OPERATION LARUE SUPPLIES ARRIVE GREAT CARE IN HANDLING The Gisborne lemon curing plant, installed for use by the Internal Marketing Department, is now in full operation, and is handling large supplies, which are coming from growers in ever-increasing quantities.

The plant is controlled by Messrs. Thomas Corson and Sons, on behalf of the department, the work being supervised by Mr. ,1. D. Kennedy, orchard instructor for the district. The new plant has just been completed, and the first lot of fruit in the curing room has been there for only a few days.

Great care is taken in the handling of the lemens from- the time they are received at the depot until they leave packed and labelled for the markets. When explaining the methods adopted to a reporter today, Mr. Kennedy stressed the importance of careful handling and strick cleanliness for the purpose of preventing damage that might lead to disease.

On arrival in the depot, the lemons are graded according to their size and condition. Eight grades are provided, five for household use and three for lemons that do not come up to those requirements. The Grades Those of the best size, shape and skin are placed in the extra fancy grade, th e next in order being fancy, good, minimum and small. Those which fail to qualify for any of these may be used for peel, for which two grades are provided, while others are graded for juice content only, the last-mentioned being badly marked and of no value for peel. Undersized or badly deformed lemons are rejected

After the ■ preliminary grading, the lemons are placed in the curing room, where they remain for a 1 fortnight. The room is insulated and airtight, and different temperatures are maintained according to the stage of ripeness, and differing degrees of humidity are also provided according to the length of time the fruit is in the chamber.

When the curing room is first filled, humidity is maintained at 70 degrees Fahrenheit for two or three days. This is done to ensure that the fruit is thoroughly warm prior to gassing. If the humidity is not up to 70 degrees, it is forced up to that point by boiling water in the room. Every day an electric fan is used to blow out all the air that has collected during the preceding 24 hours. • Washing and Drying Under this process the lemons gradually change from their silvery green to a bright yellow, and when the latter stage is reached they are taken out and washed In soapy water at a temperature of 90 degrees, a rapid heating appliance 'being installed to bring the water quickly up to the required temperature. A very light and 'fine brush is used to remove all dirt and to give the lemons a bright and clean, appearance. Following that, the lemons are immersed fof not mere than two minutes in a solution of soda ash and chlorine heated up to 100 degrees.

The lemons are then dried out in fiat trays which contain only one layer of ‘fruit, an air 'blast from the electric fan hastening the process. A further grading is then undertaken for size and curing defects, and the final process of packing in three-quarter bushel cases is done.

Handled Like Eggs

In the process, lemons' must be handled.-eyen. more-- carefully, than eggs, for the slightest scratch is sufficient to set up disease or deterioration that might affect not only a whole case, but also infect the shed. ■Blue mould -is very carefully guarded -against, and any lemons showing signs of that disease are carefully placed in a. rubbish receptacle, that is emptied, twice a. day, the. contents being burned and, the container washed and sterilised. The blue mould spores, being so minute, are wafted about on the slightest draft of air, and are -likely to go through the shed, if the -utmost -care is not taken.

The new shed should have its. test of efficiency shortly, when larger numbers of lemons begin to arrive, but‘Mr. Kennedy says he is fully confident of the plant being able to stand up to all the demands the growers place on it. A high grading standard is being maintained, and the shed is turning out a quality equal to that in any other of the lemon-producing areas.