Citrus juice is a very common product in just about any market in just about any country.
These juices are sold on the shelves of every store in the form of concentrates, 100% pure juice, mixed juice varieties, candies, baked treats, and many other food sources.
Citrus juice isn’t just popular because it is so flexible and tasty.
This product also offers you lots of nutritional benefits since they contain so many antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that help boost the immune system so we can stay healthy and full of energy.
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The History of Fruit Juice
Did you know that there was a time when there were no citrus fruits in the United States?
This little fact is hard to believe when you consider just how many foods and beverages are manufactured from this healthy product.
The first citrus fruits were brought to the US in 1493 by Christopher Columbus and in the mid-1500s; But the first person to plant orange citrus trees in the USA was the Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon. This explorer planted and grew the first of these healthy fruits in Florida.
Today the citrus industry in Florida has grown to a 9 billion dollar industry and plays a huge part in the country’s economy.
80% of America’s citrus industry consists of orange juice and 90% of Florida’s citrus production is consumed within the country itself with just about 10% of exports.
Orange juice is also the most commonly grown citrus juice in the world with this type being over 80% of all fruit juice productions.
Citrus juices weren’t always popular on the market. Mass juicing first began in the mid-1910’s when Florida farms overproduced oranges.
Something had to be done with all of that fruit and the industry soon devised a clever way to turn losses of overproduction into a flourishing industry.
They started juicing oranges in California and later all over the world and now this is one of the most popular juices to be found on earth.
When Was The First Citrus Juicer Invented?
If you ever tried to squeeze fresh fruit juice from a lemon or orange then you probably already know that it is a lot of hard work.
Removing citrus juice and separating the juice from pulp and seeds is no simple task when you try to do it by hand and with so many people in love with the taste of the juice, a plan had to be made.
Before the first juicer was developed, juicing was already widely used.
Documented evidence of juicing fruit was found in parchments from the dead sea scrolls that date back to around 150 B.C and juices from the rind of oranges and limes that were leveraged for Ayurveda medicines in India since around 985 BC.
Back then, crushers were used to extract juice from fruits and vegetables which was a tiresome process.
The First Mechanical Juicer
The first mechanical juicer was introduced by Dr. Norman Walker during the 20th century.
Walker was very concerned about the health and he constantly preached about the benefits of following a healthy diet.
He strongly believed that people could be much healthier by consuming raw and unprocessed fruits and vegetables.
He was a vegan and wrote many books on health and wellness. He lived to a ripe age of 99 years in which he developed the first citrus juices.
This device was called the Norwalk. This machine operated on a simple juicing mechanism and its main function were to grate, crush and squeeze fresh fruits and veggies.
With this device, you could produce pulp, collect the pulp and a machine press was used to extract liquid from the paste.
The machine worked but it was bulky and challenging to use. It is still available on the market to this very day. While this is a good juicer, it is hardly the only option you have today.The Champion Juicer
The Champion citrus juicer was made available to the public in the 1950s.
This device worked faster and easier but the quick speed of the gear created excessive heat which destroyed vitamins, minerals, and enzymes found in juice.
The destruction of nutrients in commercially produced juice wasn’t the only concern.
The FDA started investigating commercial orange juice companies in 1960 because they labeled their fruits as ‘fresh’ or ‘pure’ despite the fact that a lot of additional products were added to these juices.
The products were labeled and portrayed as freshly squeezed even though that was obviously not true and fruit juice appeared on the market in cartons instead of just cans.
Another concern about commercial orange juice is additives. Alissa Hamilton wrote a book; Squeezed, that shows how these commercial products contain additives and preservatives to help prolong the shelf life of foods.The Twin Gear Juicer
The first twin-gear juicer was invented in 1993 by Mr. Kim. This machine was called the Green Power and it was designed similarly to the mortar and pestle principle. The machine didn’t destroy any nutrition.
When Fresh Juice Became Popular
People started focusing on improving personal health around the 1980s. Research and studies proved to the public that additives and preservatives were unhealthy and more people started to realize that juices were much healthier non-pasteurized and fresh.
In unpasteurized juice, valuable nutrients are not destroyed and fresh juice doesn't contain as many additives.
Many people today prefer freshly squeezed juice because these freshly squeezed beverages taste much better and consumers are guaranteed that no additives or sugar was added to the product.
Squeezing your own fresh juice today is also a lot easier because citrus fruits like oranges are now available on the market throughout the year.
During the autumn season, you can get main orange varieties like Valencia fruits, Pineapple fruits, Navels, Hamlin fruits, and Ambersweet fruits. Grapefruit varieties like Flame grapefruit, Ruby Red grapefruit, Marsh citrus fruits, Duncan fruits, and Thompson grapefruit are harvested during autumn and Navel oranges are produced during wintertime.
What Nutrients Do Citrus Juices Contain?
Freshly squeezed citrus fruits like oranges are very healthy for your body.
These fruits contain lots of important nutrients like Vitamin C, C, Fe, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B1, folic acid, phosphorus, Mg, Vitamin B-6, Vitamin B5, Mn, copper, and Se.
The nutritional intake of citrus juice can vary for different fruit varieties but all of these fruits do contain a significant amount of nutrients that can keep you healthy and boost your immune system.
The History of the Citrus juicer
There is quite a difference between a juicer and citrus juices.
Citrus fruits contain lots of nutrients in the rind, some of which are used for medicinal purposes but by including rind juice to your fruit juice, you get orange juice that tastes bitter.
To eliminate the bitterness of fruit juice, a device needed to be designed that was specifically for citrus juices.
These devices would be used to extract orange juice without extracting the bitter juice from the rind.
The very first automatic juicer for citrus fruits appeared in 1945. This first concept lead to the development of many different types of automatic juicers we see in stores today such as these;
The Evolution of Citrus Juicer
Both manual and electric citrus juicers have developed a lot since they were first invented. Many individuals and companies took it upon themselves to improve and streamline these early patents and even in this modern time, new and more innovative products are still being developed.
A good example is the Black and Decker citrus juicer that is designed for residential use but comes in different designs or models.
Today you can shop from a great many types of citrus juicers.
They range from small handheld devices that are preferable for extracting juice from single fruits like lemons during dining to massive industrial juicers.
For your common home, you can choose to invest in manual devices like different types of press juicers and various types of manual reamer juicers.
Typically, these devices are preferable for squeezing smaller quantities of citrus juice.
You can also invest in automatic devices that vary from very complex to simple rotating cone juicers.
These are often preferable for producing more juice more frequently although they usually do result in more parts that need to be cleaned.
What Are The Health Benefits Of Consuming Citrus Juice?
Drinking freshly squeezed fruit juice offers you plenty of positive health benefits.
When you drink fruits freshly squeezed, you are never exposed to harmful additives such as preservatives and sugar.
Drinking juice on a daily basis also offers you lots of positive benefits. Here is a quick look at the health benefits of consuming freshly squeezed juice;
These fruits are nutritious and offer you lots of vitamins and plant compounds to keep you healthy.
Which Fruits Are Citrus Fruits?
There are quite a few different types and varieties of citrus fruits.
Citrus fruits are native to Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, and Southeast Asia but are now found all over the world. The most popular citrus fruit types include the following;
The Summary
If citrus juicers were not invented we would probably be extracting juice through crushing or pressing to this very day.
The first citrus juicer invented in 1945 changed and helped shape the citrus industry into the industry we all benefit from today.
Today you can pick and choose from a great many different types and designs of citrus juicers.
These vary from small hand-held juice squeezers or small automatic citrus juicers to large commercial units designed to extract hundreds of liters of juice daily.
Manual juicers are preferred for squeezing small quantities of juice. These are effective for removing juice and modern presses are quite compact in design which results in the very little cleanup or effort.
For larger quantities of juice or for juice production, automatic citrus juicers are preferred.
These commercial devices are highly effective and they are usually made of high-quality materials like stainless steel so the device will stay in good condition despite squeezing hundreds of citrus fruits on a daily basis.
With health concerns increasing, more and more people prefer to squeeze their own fruit juices.
This gives them full control over the amount of sugar and water that is added to these fruits and ensures that the juice they consume is always fresh and delicious.
A single orange a day has all the Vitamin C needed to keep you healthy and strong. By consuming fresh fruit juice daily you can improve your immune system, stay healthy and promote a healthy mind.
Today you can enjoy freshly squeezed juice with great ease simply because innovative people like Norman Walker or Mr. Kim were passionate enough about healthy living to develop products that ease fruit juice extraction.
These inventive individuals didn’t just make life easier for you and me, they also helped shape the citrus industry into what we have today.
