The History of Orange Juice and Its Varieties

Orange juice is a famous refreshing drink and favorite of many but have you ever wondered about the history of orange juice or oranges? This article enlightens about this aspect of orange juice that is unknown to most of you.

Growth of oranges can be dated back to almost 4000 years ago in China and Southeast Asia. Going by the account of the historians, in the next 500 years, oranges can be located in Middle East and Africa as well. Eventually, as the Arabs occupied Spain around AD 700 to 1400, this delicious fruit was further introduced in Europe. The New World savored the taste of this fruit during the 15th and 16th centuries as explorers bought it with them and by 1800s, a burgeoning industry of oranges could be found in Florida.

By the 1890s, as the nutritional benefits of oranges became known to people, including its high Vitamin C concentration, orange juice and oranges grew in popularity tremendously. Another important reason that contributed to the popularity of oranges at that time was their Vitamin C content, which is effective in evading scurvy, an alarming disease during that time.

The commercial industry of orange juice came into being during the 1920s and enhanced the consumption of orange juice manifolds, especially with the improvement in the new processes of canning and pasteurization techniques. After that orange juice started tasting better than ever before and was considered a safe drink.

During the last phase of World War II was introduced the frozen concentrate orange juices, and they continued to rule the markets as the best-selling juice for the next four decades. Fame enjoyed by this orange juice spurred immense growth of orange industry in Florida.

It was during the mid-1980s when frozen variety lost some of its market share to ready-to-drink juices. At present, over 75% of population in North America is fond of drinking RTD varieties only and only 25% of North Americans continue to remain loyal to the frozen concentrate orange juices.

Primarily there three orange juice types that are easily available in U.S. and Canadian supermarkets:

Frozen concentrate: These are found in the freezer case of grocery stores. The orange liquid is made available in the concentrated form and you need to put in cold water and stir it, so as to melt and dissolve this concentrate.
Reconstituted liquid: This is the second most popular orange juice. Though it is concentrated first, it is diluted before sale. This juice is also known as ready-to-drink juice and does not require any preparation.
Not from concentrate: This kind of juice is never concentrated and is also called “single strength” juice. This is the most popular orange juice variety nowadays and is also a ready-to-drink juice.

Now that you know the history of orange juice and are now aware of different varieties in which they are available, you are sure to get the best orange juice for yourself from now on.

The History of Orange Juice and Its Varieties

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