FRUIT SHORTAGE

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4561, 17 April 1942, Page 5

FRUIT SHORTAGE

HIGH PRICES IN TE AWAMUTU A SUGGESTED SUBSTITUTE ROSE HIP PRESERVES Oranges, lemons and grape fruit are in short supply in Te Awamutu, and when available command high prices. A serious view of the effect this Njiortage may have on public health *Ts taken by the Department of Health, because of the importance of these fruits as a source of vitamin C. In this connection Nurse McLeod, the Plunket nurse in Te Awamutu, has received the following circular which should prove of wide interest:— t Several recipes have appeared in \local papers and magazines for syrups and jams prepared from rose hips, which are extremely rich in vitamin C, and which may thus serve as a substitute for oranges. These recipes have been taken from current English journals. Unfortunately, they have given rise to some difficulties when applied to the briar rose growing wild in New Zealand. Also, new information has come to hand through the liaison officer of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, suggesting modifications in the former recipes. The Department of Nutrition Research has tested out methods, and as a result of chemical tests for the vitamin, and of microscopic examination for the irritating hairs, they make the following tentative suggestions as to the best method to adopt. The fruit of the wild rose or briar rose (rose hips, as they are called: not to be confused with the haws of the hawthorn) should be gathered jfchen they are reddening, which is the •stage when they are richest in vitaIniin C; it is better not to have them either green or too ripe; the green ones have quite an amount of the vitamin, but are harder to deal with, and may possibly have undesirable g qualities if there is too great a pro- ’ portion of them; soft-ripe hips have lost a little of their vitamin. A few of these green ones or fully ripe ones mixed in with the others may, however, be retained; they will not need to be discarded. ROSE HIP SYRUP Method: Remove the stalks and the leafy calyx at the end of the berry. Put 5 lbs of berries in an aluminium or enamel saucepan, and cover them with 3 pints of boiling water; bring to the boil, keep boiling until they have softened (about S of an hour). Then mash them, with either a wooden spoon, or (less tedious) with the bottom of an aluminium or enamel jug- There results a thick mass that should now be diluted with a further 2 pints of boiling water. Bring to the boil, taking care not to burn them—stir all the time. Leave till cold enough to handle. Squeeze through a jelly-bag by hand, collecing as much as possible of the thick, mucilaginous liquor that comes through. Keeping the jelly-bag unwashed, return the residue to the pan, add 2 pints of boiling water, bring to the boil, boil for 5 to 10 minutes. Strain —that is, squeeze—once more. Again return the residue to the pan, add 2 pints of boiling water, boil for 5 to 10 minutes, and strain —that is, squeeze—for the third time. (The residue still has some value in it, so do not discard; see instructions below.) Now mix the three lots of squeezed liquor, put into a clean jelly-bag—that is. a fresh one—and allow to drip without squeezing. A total of about 2 quarts is thus collected. Boil and add 2 lb sugar for every pint of fluid; boil the syrup for about 3 minutes. Meantime, sterilise bottles and corks by ifnmersing them in water and boil--1 ing them for 20 minutes. Add the hot syrup to the hot bottles; immediately insert sterile corks, allowing for the fact that the corks will be sucked in somewhat during the cooling process. Seal when the fluid has cooled down and the corks have been sucked

down as far as they are likely to goIt is convenient to seal with clarified • mutton fat or with a mixture of resin ’ (8 oz), beeswax (1 oz), and vaseline (1 oz). The latter is prepared according to the accompanying recipe. Small bottles may thus be used for holding the syrup. The vitamin C value of the resulting syrup, if the above directions are closely followed, is about four times that of orange juice, for whicfr it may be used as a substitute. Two teaspoonsful are thus enough for a baby’s daily ration. Note well: It must be insisted that, as in the above directions, a second straining is necessary, because a great many of the irritating hairs (which may cause diarrhoea) are pre sent if the juice has been squeezed through the bag. Moreover, the bag itself retains the hairs until it is washed,, dried, and beaten; hence the need for a fresh jelly-bag in making the final straining. The residue will still give a fourth

liquor richer than orange juice if it ) is worked up with a further pint of boiling water, strained, and re strained. It is suggested that it may be used immediately or bottled sep arately and given to the older children; it would mean giving too much sugar to get the requisite dose for a baby. The Nutrition Research Committee regrets that this information is too late to reach the areas in the north the crop of berries is now over. It -Jts necessary to try out the methods before being able to give figures for the rose hips that are grown in New Zealand, these being different from many of the varieties growing in England. Difficulties in the preparation have resulted through the New Zealand variety giving rise to a more viscous liquid. • COLLECT ROSE HIPS AT ONCE In the course of a chat with a “Courier” representative, Nurse McLeod stated that the berries (rose hips) at the present time, have the maximum amount of vitamin C and should be collected at once. The importance of undertaking this collection immediately cannot be too strongly emphasised, especially as the resultant syrup is invaluable for the k feeding of infants.