Fruit juice in history

Beginning in the 19th century, the most common way of serving fruit juices was with added sugar and water in the form of ades, such as appleade, lemonade, orangeade and strawberryade. These were sometimes served icy cold and called sherbets.

The first non-alcoholic fruit juice sold commercially was made from grapes. The fruit juice processing industry of the United States is said to have been started by Dr Thomas B. Welch and his son Charles in Vineland, New Jersey in 1868.

In home fruit was juiced by hand until 1930, when the first commercial juicing machine was marketed by Norman Walker, who encouraged a diet of raw food and juices. Juicing became popular in America during the 1970s.

A new addition to the fruit juice market was frozen juices, which were first marketed during the 1930s. During World War II scientists developed a process for making powdered orange juice.

The advent of gas chromatography in the 1950s, its coupling with the diagnostic strength of mass spectroscopy and the remarkable improvements in column sensitivity have no doubt been critical factors in the generation of the large numbers of beverages flavors and drink types available on today’s market.

The majorities of the active flavour components of most fruit types have been identified and provide the beverage technologist with the basis for the addition of certain characters in the development of a new product.
Fruit juice in history