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The Vitamin Content of Figs

Laboratory of Household Science and Fruit Products Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley

1. Kadota and Calimyrna fresh figs, preserved in frozen storage, were found to contain vitamin C in measurable amounts, similar to that found in grapes and apricots, but less than that in fresh peaches and fresh prunes. Mission and Adriatic figs contained but little of this vitamin.
None of the dried figs, sulfured or unsulfured, sun-dried or dehydrated, retained measurable antiscorbutic value.

2. The Black mission figs contain considerably more vitamin A precursor than do any of the light colored figs, 100 International units per 100 gm. fresh as compared with 50 in fresh Kadotas and less in the Calimyrnas. The sulfuring process proved favorable to the retention of vitamin A of the Missions and Calimyrnas, but not of the Adriatics. The one dehydrated product, Calimyrnas, H12, was far superior to all the sun-dried samples, as was previously found true of dehydrated raisins and other dried fruits. The dried figs contained 50 to 143 International units of vitamin A per 100 gm.

3. Vitamin B(B₁) tested by the rat growth method appeared to be unfavorably affected by sulfuring preceding sundrying. Fresh Kadotas and Adriatics contained about equal amounts of the vitamin, 25 International or 35 Sherman units per 100 gm. The unsulfured dried Adriatics retained 61 per cent of this and all sulfured products 37 per cent or less, that is 71 and 33 Sherman units per 100 gm. of dried fruit.
By pigeon maintenance test much the same relations were discovered, except that the destruction of the vitamin in the sulfured fruit was less obvious. This may be due to more complete destruction of a third B vitamin needed by rats and not by pigeons.

4. Vitamin G is present in figs, the dried products containing practically the same amount in all cases, 33 to 50 Sherman units per 100 gm. None of the variables of the drying process appeared to affect this vitamin.