ENVELOPE GUM: See Adhesives, under Mucilages.
EPIZOOTY: See Veterinary Formulas.
ESSENCES AND EXTRACTS OF FRUITS
Preservation Of Fruit Juices.
To the juice thus obtained, add from 1 to 2 per cent of sugar, and put away in a cool place (where the temperature will not rise over 70° or 75° F.). Fermentation soon begins, and will proceed for a few days. As soon as the development of carbonic acid gas ceases, the juice begins to clear itself, from the surface downward, and in a short time all solid matter will lie in a mass at the bottom, leaving the liquid bright and clear. Draw off the latter with a siphon, very carefully, so as not to disturb the sedimentary matter. Fermentation should be induced in closed vessels only, as when conducted in open containers a fungoid growth is apt to form on the surface, sometimes causing putrefactive, and at others, an acetic, fermentation, in either event spoiling the juice for {311} subsequent use, except as a vinegar. The vessels, to effect the end desired, should be filled only two-thirds or three-fourths full, and then carefully closed with a tight-fitting cork, through which is passed a tube of glass, bent at the upper end, the short end of which passes below the surface of a vessel filled with water. As soon as fermentation commences the carbonic acid developed thereby escapes through the tube into the water, whence it passes off into the atmosphere. When bubbles no longer pass off from the tube the operation should be interrupted, and decantation or siphoning, with subsequent filtration, commenced.
By proceeding in this manner all the aroma and flavor of the juices are retained. If it is intended for preservation for any length of time the juice should be heated on a water bath to about 176° F. and poured, while hot, into bottles which have been asepticized by filling with cold water, and placing in a vessel similarly filled, bringing to a boiling temperature, and maintaining at this temperature until the juice, while still hot, is poured into them. If now closed with corks similarly asepticized, or by dipping into hot melted paraffine, the juice may be kept unaltered for years. It is better, however, to make the juice at once into syrup, using the best refined sugar, and boiling in a copper kettle (iron or tin spoil the color), following the usual precautions as to skimming, etc. The syrup should be poured hot into the bottles previously heated as before described.
Ripe fruit may be kept in suitable quantities for a considerable time if covered with a solution of saccharine and left undisturbed, this, too, without deteriorating the taste, color, or aroma of the fruit if packed with care.
Whole fruit may be stored in bulk, by carefully and without fracture filling into convenient-sized jars or bottles, and pouring thereon a solution containing a quarter of an ounce of refined saccharine to the gallon of water, so filling each vessel that the solution is within an inch of the cork when pressed into position. The corks should first of all be immersed in melted paraffine wax, then drained, and allowed to cool. When fruit juices alone are required for storage purposes they are prepared by subjecting the juicy fruits to considerable pressure, by which process the juices are liberated.
The sound ripe fruits are crushed and packed into felt or flannel bags. The fruit should be carefully selected, rotten or impaired portions being carefully removed; this is important, or the whole stock would be spoiled. Several methods are adopted for preserving and clarifying fruit juices.
A common way in which they are kept from fermenting is by the use of salicylic acid or other antiseptic substance, which destroys the fermentative germ, or otherwise retards its action for a considerable time. The use of this acid is seriously objected to by some as injurious to the consumer. About 2 ounces of salicylic acid, previously dissolved in alcohol, to 25 gallons of juice, or 40 grains to the gallon, is generally considered the proper proportion.