FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
gives the information so far obtained for
Tendergreen and Bountiful beans.
variations are not nearly as great as they
were for the cabbage. The percent
weight and vitamin C content vary
the location and with the variety. Tender-
green beans have a greater percent dry
weight and lower vitamin G content than
FACTORS AFFECTING THE QUALITY OF
FLORIDA DEHYDRATED
VEGETABLES
ARTHUR L. STAHL, Associate Horticulturist,
Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, Gainesville
The Florida Agricultural Experiment Sta
tion was called upon to prove that Florida
vegetables would lend themselves to dehy
dration and be equal to those from other
sections to assure the establishment of per
manent dehydration plants for this state.
A belief was held by some that our vege
tables would not give as good a product as
some other vegetable-growing sections due
to the difference of soil, climate, cultural
practices, varieties, high moisture content
and other factors from other sections and
which affect the dehydration of vegetables.
It can be readily shown that Florida vege
tables will lend themselves to dehydration
and are as good or superior to those of oth
er sections when the comparisons are made.
However, the above mentioned factors and
others do have some effect on quality of the
dehydrated product which will be pointed
out in this paper, and many interesting and
valuable facts are being found from these
investigations which will be of benefit to
those growing vegetables for dehydration
as well as those actually dehydrating vege
tables.
The quality of any dehydrated vegetable
241
Bountiful beans. Apparently the location,
The that is, growing condition or environment,
is more important than variety in determin
ing dry weight and vitamin G content. The
dry
carotene content of beans is much higher
with than that of cabbage. The information ob
tained thus far indicates that Tendergreen
beans are lower in carotene than Bounti
ful.
at the time it is used is controlled by a
long chain of factors beginning away back
with the selection of the variety and con
tinuing through planting, culture, harvesting
and subsequent handling. One of the prob
lems in testing variety adaptation to de
hydration is the fact that seasonal growing
conditions or harvesting at an improper
stage of maturity may obscure the true
quality of the product. For this reason, an
investigator should be reluctant to conclude
that a variety is unsuitable for dehydrating
except on the basis of extended trials. We
are therefore not in a position as yet to
state definitely that any variety is good or
bad, as the investigational time has been
too short. However, during the course of
these investigations certain varieties were
consistently given a high rating, while oth
ers were given a good rating one year and
only a fair rating another year, and others
a consistently poor rating.
A summary follows of the ratings given
the various varieties tested but our present
knowledge of this subject is incomplete—a
fact to keep in mind when considering the
results of these investigations.
242 FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY

Varieties of Vegetables for Dehydration: develops a green crown and core which
The desirable properties of a suitable va turns brown on drying. The flavor of the
riety should be of tender, uniform texture, Chantenay after drying, refreshing and
attractive appearance, and good nutritive cooking was rated slightly superior to Im
value; should not suffer undue changes in perator.
quality during dehydration; and should give Green Beans:—Seven varieties of green
a profitable yield. All these attributes were beans were compared over two seasons. The
taken into consideration in judging a variety cooking qualities after drying was com
for dehydration but are markedly affected pared. Most of the tasters preferred bush
by the climate and other factors. It has to pole beans in general quality after de
been found that the most suitable varieties hydrating, refreshing and cooking, largely
are most apt to be those already grown in because pole beans remained wrinkled on
a given locality. The importation of new cooking, whereas the bush beans became
varieties most often resulted in disappoint plump. The Stringless Green Pod was rated
ment. most desirable, Bountiful next and Tender-
Cabbage:—The comparison of cabbage va green, third. Black Valentine also reacted
rieties for Florida dehydration requires fur well to dehydration. Considering everything,
ther study. The Savoy, a green-leafed open- the Stringless Green Pod variety could be
headed cabbage, was found to give a very recommended over the rest for dehydration.
good dried product and is favored by the Sweet Potatoes:—No comparisons of sweet
Army and the British purchasing agencies. potato varieties for dehydration were made,
It is somewhat a light producer in Florida beyond drying samples of the Jersey (dry
and most growers prefer the solid-head va type) and the Porto Rican (moist type).
rieties. The vitamin C content is high in the The Porto Rican type was preferred after
dried Savoy and remains high even after drying, refreshing and cooking. Caldwell,
lengthy storage. We found Golden Acre and Moon and Culpepper reporting on the rela
Copenhagen Market to be very satisfactory tive suitability of forty sweet potato varie
varieties. The Flat Dutch has not proved ties for the Southeast, considered Nancy
very satisfactory owing to its tendency to Hall, Myers Early, Mullihan and Mameyita
darken during drying as does the Wakefield somewhat superior to the others for dehy
variety. The Early Jersey had a tendency dration.
to develop a stale odor and flavor in dry Potatoes:—Only three varieties of white
ing. The greener the variety, the better potatoes were tried: Katah'din, Sebago and
looking and tasting dehydrated product it Sequoia. Of these the Katahdin reacted best
produced. They rehydrated much better and to dehydration. The other two darkened
had less tendency to brown upon cooking. with drying and tended to case-harden. More
Carrots:—In a comparison of several car investigation is needed before recommenda
rot varieties, the Imperator and Chantenay tions can be made.
gave very good results. Nantes gave fair Corn:—The Golden Cross Bantam and
results, and the others only fair to poor. Golden Bantam were much more suited to
The Imperator is slightly preferred to the dehydration than the other varieties tried.
Chantenay because it had less green tissue They were equally good in general quality
near the crown. The Chantenay has the but the drying ratio of the hybrid was bet
higher carotene content. After drying, the ter than the Golden Bantam type. The pref
Chantenay shows a deeper orange color erence was given by most tasters to the
than the Imperator, especially at the core. Golden Bantam, it being more attractive
The Imperator had the highest yield of dried in appearance and higher in pigment con
product per unit of prepared fresh carrots tent. Of the white varieties, Country Gentle
and Nantes second. The Chantenay often man was best, and of the field corn varie*
 FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
ties, Oklahoma Silver Mine was outstanding
but neither one as good as the yellow va
rieties.
Onions:-—The more pungent varieties of
onions gave the best dehydrated products.
Beets, squash, lima beans, field
English peas, tomatoes, okra, spinach
other vegetables were dehydrated but not
enough data is at present available to re
commend varieties. We are continuing the
investigations on these.
Freshness of Raw Material:—All
tables of the leafy type and peas,
beans, and other green vegetables should
be garden-fresh for dehydrating. It was
found that the Vitamin C and sugar con
tents decrease rapidly in most vegetables
after harvesting and so should be dehydrat
ed immediately. It was found that potatoes
sweet potatoes, onions and cabbage can be
kept for a short time without serious de
terioration before drying, but carrots do
not store well and must be dehydrated im
mediately.
Use of Culls:—Gull vegetables are not
suitable. U. S. No. 2 products, if carefully
sorted and used soon after harvesting, are
satisfactory. Too often vegetables culled
from those intended for fresh market con
tain rotten or wormy material that is apt to
contaminate the sound, wholesome portions.
Losses in trimming, peeling and sorting are
excessive; labor is costly, and the dried
product is inferior.
Maturity of the Product:—Samples of
English peas, green beans, cabbage, sweet
corn, carrots and spinach were gathered in
three stages of maturity and dehydrated.
Immature, mature and over-mature samples
were handled, prepared and dehydrated in
the same manner throughout. In every case
the best dehydrated product was obtained
from those vegetables which were just ma
ture, with the exception of spinach in which
the immature samples were better. In most
cases the over-mature samples were superior
to under-mature samples. Strong flavors
were obtained in some of the over-mature
samples of cabbage and carrots. The imma
243
ture samples of most of the vegetables were
tasteless and would not rehydrate and stayed
wrinkled and darkened after refreshing and
cooking. It was found that it is important
to harvest vegetables for dehydrating within
peas, the short range when they can be consid
and ered the right maturity for fresh markets.
Soil Types and Fertilizer:—The effect of
soil types and fertilizers on dehydration
products we are at present dehydrating
samples from the plots set aside by Dr.
vege Janes at eight different places in the State,
string from the southernmost part of the most
northern section. Plots of 3 different fer
tilizer levels are set up at each place. This
investigation has not as yet proceeded far
enough to make any definite statements,
but we hopt to obtain some very good re
sults as to the effect of soil types and fer
tilizer treatment on suitability of Florida
Vegetables for dehydrating. From the re
sults so far, the vegetables from no one sec
tion are outstanding from the others in their
reaction to dehydrating when considering
all points. It appears that the vegetables
grown on the medium fertilizer plots gave
the best dehydration products. This was
true for both muck and sandy loam.
There are many factors affecting the qual
ity of vegetables for dehydration over which
the grower has no control—those are the
ones dealing with the actual preparation and
handling in the dehydration plant and those
of packaging and storing. A vegetable can
be of the best quality and still not make
a good dehydrated produce due to faulty
methods of dehydration. In these investiga
tions the following factors in the actual de
hydration are being considered: Prepara
tion, chemical treatments (blanching and
sulphuring), enzyme activity, moisture con
tent, temperature, humidity, air flow, length
of drying, time, nutritive value, packaging,
storing, rehydrating and cooking.
The preparation of vegetables for dehy
dration is as important as the drying pro
cess itself. Speed, cleanlineas, and efficiency
are all important. Most products are washed;
graded; peeled; trimmed; cored or pitted;
244 FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
sliced, cubed, shredded, halved, or otherwise
divided; washed again and blanched just
before they are dehydrated. These steps are
modified for some commodities; onions, for
example, are not blanched, and beets should
be cooked before they are cut.
Prepared vegetables, except onions and
garlic, must be subjected to partial cooking
in steam or boiling water. The color was
better preserved in most vegetables by
blanching in boiling water but the steam
blanching is preferred as it was found that,
in this type, there are fewer spoilage or
ganisms and there is less solvent action on
the material—that is, dissolving out of valu
able nutritive constituents. The Vitamin C
content was found to be higher in steam-
blanched vegetables. Other advantages of
blanching were found, namely: preventing
the toughening of tissues, and the loss of
flavor and sugars; retarding of the darken
ing and discoloration of the tissues.
Some vegetables such as potatoes, carrots,
and rutabagas, which are apt to oxidize and
discolor in air, can be greatly improved
by exposure of the freshly prepared materi
al to burning sulphur (sulphur dioxide gas).
It stabilizes color and in every case the
Vitamin C content was higher in the treated
than the untreated samples, showing a stabil
izing effect on Vitamin C, but at the same
time it had a destructive effect on some
of the other vitamins.
Catalase and peroxidase are two common
enzymes of plant tissues whose activity must
be stopped by blanching if the dehydrated
vegetable is to • keep well or have a good
taste. A test for the activity of these en
zymes gives some information as to the com
pleteness of blanching. Every vegetable ex
cept, the onion gave a better dehydrated
product when fully blanched.
Moisture Content of Vegetables:—The in
vestigations showed that there was very
little difference in the amount of energy
used to dehydrate those samples which were
slightly higher in moisture content. These
samples were not as apt, in most cases, to
case-harden as were those with a low moist
ure content. All Florida samples when com
pared with those grown in other sections de
hydrated to a specific percent drying 1n
equal time under the same conditions. No
difficulties were encountered due to higher
moisture content of vegetables. In most
cases, Florida vegetables, when compared
with those grown in other sections, were
only slightly higher in moisture content and
in some equal or lower.
Temperature, Humidity and Air Flow of
Dehydrator and Length of Drying Times-
Temperature of air, rates of air movement,
and length of time required to complete the
drying vary widely with the method used
and the material. Some products take longer
to dry than others, but the usual range is
between 3 and 8 hours. The initial tem
peratures may be as high as 210° F. for
certain foods, but the temperature at the
end of the drying period is usually 40° to
80° lower. As high an air velocity as can
be obtained economically and as high a tern-
perature as can be used without scorching
or otherwise injuring the product are re
commended. Vitamin C retention has been
found to be better in hot rapid drying than
in slower, cooler drying.
Packaging and Storage:—The packaging
of dehydrated foods presents many prob
lems. The dry material is normally sur
rounded by air in the package. Air con
tains oxygen, and the presence of oxygen
in containers may result in oxidation of
the food. This is a deteriorative process
that varies in rate with the commodity, its
moisture content, temperature, the length
of time the product is kept in the package,
and other conditions. Loss of eolor, flavor
and nutritive value may be caused by oxi
dation. Some dehydrated foods keep well
in air; others require that air be excluded
almost completely.
Replacing the air in a package of food
with inert gas has been found to retard
loss of desirable factors in certain dehydrat
ed foods that are subject to oxidation. Stu
dies Tiave shown that inert gas atmospheres
are especially necessary for carrot*
 FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
cabbage. The inert gases recommended are
carbon dioxide and nitrogen, the carbon di
oxide being preferred due to the fact that it
is less expensive. They give equal results.
Low-temperature storage slows down chang
es that result in vitamin losses.
Retention of Nutritive Values:—Dehydrat
ed vegetables supply practically as many
calories as fresh ones and they retain most
of their mineral values. Loss in Vitamin C
has been found to be great but where es
pecial care is taken losses can be reduced
considerably. Adverse conditions produce
high losses in vitamin cotnent. Vitamin C
is hardest to retain. It is easily lost on con
tact with air, and it dissolves in water. The
dryer the product, the better the retention
of Vitamin C.
Reconfttitution and Cooking.—The success
of the rehydration process depends on many
factors, including the quality of the materi
al, the amount of liquid added, the compo
sition of the liquid, and the length of time
the food is soaked or boiled in it. Following
is the procedure found best for cooking
most dehydrated vegetables. Soak them on
ly until they are plump, or cook them with
NEW VARIETIES OF VEGETABLES
E. C. MINNUM, Assistant Truck Horticulturist,
Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, Belle Glade
Plant breeders and Experiment Station
workers, as you know, are constantly striv
ing to develop new and better varieties and
strains of vegetables. Some are adapted for
growing in certain localised areas, while
others have much wider adaptation.
PoUtoe*
Among the newer varieties of potatoes,
Sebago, Sequoia and Pontiac seem to be
adapted to Florida. Sebago, the result of a
cross between Chippewa and Katahdin, has
245
out soaking. Cook them in the same water
in which they are soaked; simmer rather
than boil, cook only until tender, and use
left-over cooking water. They are seasoned
and served exactly like cooked fresh vege
tables.
Any one of the factors mentioned here,
if investigated thoroughly, would take one's
full time. The factors are many and com
plicated and so it will take several seasons
before a full picture can be drawn and full
recommendations made.
When good Grade A fresh vegetables are
used and proper methods of dehydration
employed Florida dehydrated vegetables read
ily pass the rigid requirements and stand
ards set up by the Army and Lease Lend
Procurement Divisions.
The future of dehydration depends on
the results of investigations and research
in which better methods and procedures
will result in better products. To succeed,
dehydration must produce as good a product
as that produced by other means of preser
vation such as canning, brining and freezing.
Research for better varieties, better raw
materials and better methods can make this
possible.
a white skin. It is shallow eyed and some
what thicker than Chippewa. The foliage is
upright, fairly resistant to heat and drought,
and this variety seems to have some resist
ance to late blight, yellow dwarf and scab.
As grown in trials at Belle Glade on the
muck it showed resistance to late and early
blight and was free of scab. Final calcula
tions on the yields from the spring variety
trials have not been made, but it appears to
show much promise.