RELATION OF BENZOIC ACID CONTENT AND OTHER CONSTITUENTS OF CRANBERRIES TO KEEPING QUALITY

The benzoic acid naturally occurring in cranberries has long been regarded as the preserving agent responsible for the good keeping qualities of the berries and the products manufactured from them (10, 15). The purpose of this investigation was to determine the benzoic acid content of several Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Wisconsin varieties, and to note the amount present in relation to other constituents and to the keeping qualities of the berries. LOEW (8) was probably the first to report the presence of benzoic acid in the German Preisselbeere (Vaccinium vitis idaea). Subsequent quantitative determinations were reported by other workers (5, 7, 9). GRBEL (4) thoroughly studied the free and combined benzoic acid of the Preisselbeere, the Moosbeere (V. oxycoccus), and the American cranberry (V. macrocarpum). He found the Preisselbeere to contain as much as 0.22 per cent. total benzoic acid, the Moosbeere and the cranberry having a content of 0.02-0.06 per cent. MASON (10) found the American cranberry to contain 0.05 per cent. benzoic acid; RADIN (16) reports 0.06 per cent. as the content; BLATHERWICK and LONG (2) give the percentage as 0.096; and NELSON (14) reports 0.069 per cent. The varieties analyzed were not stated in the papers. Chemical composition of the important American varieties of cranberries has been studied by MORSE (12).