Production and Food Uses of Fruit

R. R. Legault, Clyde L. Rasmussen.

We eat fruits because they taste good, look good, and satisfy appetite. They are protective foods because they furnish in abundance carbohydrates, minerals. and vitamins. We like to eat raw fruit when we can get it. When we cannot, modern manufacturing methods give us excellent preserved fruits in many forms. The processing of fruit also evens the supplies, come winter and poor growing seasons.

Almost half of the commercially produced fruit in the United States is processed by canning, drying, freezing, or fermenting. Most of the grapes, plums, apricots, cherries, cling peaches, grapefruit, and olives go to consumer markets in a can, bottle, or other package. Apples, oranges, freestone peaches, lemons, pears, and strawberries are still sold mostly as fresh fruit. Recent developments in the production of canned and frozen juices and concentrates, however, may mean that larger amounts of many fruits, including several in the second group, will be consumed as processed juice. In 1950, one-half of the Florida crop of oranges was sold as canned or frozen juice or concentrate.

Many factors favor the commercial Processing of fruits for the housewife. Convenience in the kitchen is one of the most important. It is much easier to serve orange juice from a can of frozen concentrate, for example, than it is to squeeze the juice from the fresh fruit.

Most housewives find it impractical to make juices and nectars from such fruits as apples, apricots, prunes, and grapes. Even with the necessary presses or pulpers, the task takes too much time, in view of the demands on her time and the limited amount of domestic help at her command. Thus, it has become increasingly necessary to rely on processed foods, particularly those requiring little or no preparation for table use. As processed juices fit very well into this category, it seems likely that in the future we will drink more and more of our fruit and eat less and less in fresh form.

BECAUSE SEVERAL YEARS are needed to bring new trees and vines into bearing, the acreage devoted to the production of fruit is relatively constant. But the production of fruit varies greatly from year to year, depending on the weather and the grower's ability to overcome adverse conditions by irrigation, spraying, and fertilizing. Production in the irrigated areas in the West generally varies less than in other sections.

Between 1940 and 1949, a typical period, our commercial production of fruit averaged about 17 million tons a year.

Of that, just more than 40 percent (approximately 7 million tons) was processed. Nineteen percent of the total was canned, 28 percent dried, 22 percent crushed (including juice production), and 2 percent frozen.

All parts of the United States produce fruit. Which kind is grown where depends on the cultural needs of the fruit. Apples, perhaps the least exacting as to weather, grow in quantity throughout the North. Citrus fruits require a subtropical climate and can be produced only in the South and Southwest. Oranges, apples, grapes, grapefruit, and peaches are grown in largest quantities.

California produced more than a third of all of the commercial fruit in 1940 to 1949. Florida grew more than a sixth of the total. Texas, Washington, and New York were next. Many other States produce large quantities of fruit for the market, besides that in home gardens and small orchards.

The general inelasticity of supply (the result of the relative permanence of production facilities) and the unpredictable yearly production have complicated the problem of marketing, although processing has provided a means of stabilizing production and making fruits available in one form or another throughout the year. Processing also makes it possible to ship fruits greater distances.

Several kinds of fruit can hardly be sold unless they are processed. Because cling peaches, sour cherries, and olives have limited value in the fresh form, practically their entire volume is directed into processing. Increased acreages of these tree fruits were generally accompanied by increased processing capacity, and the production and processing industries, so to speak, grew up together.

The production of fruit for special processing to get a product different from the original is exemplified in the grapes grown for wine. Grapes for raisins might be considered in this category. In both instances, the demand for the final product influenced greatly the expansion of fruit-producing facilities.

TRENDS IN FRUIT production vary according to variety. Since 1909, the production of nearly all major fruits, except apples, has increased. Most spectacular was the tenfold gain among citrus fruits. The production of grapefruit amounted to about 2 million tons a year from 1945 to 1949, compared to only 60 thousand tons from 1909 to 1915. Late trends indicate a fairly constant or even a declining production of some fruits, among them grapes,prunes, and apricots. The trend in the production of apples has been downward since 1920.

Our consumption of fresh fruits per person changed little between 1918 and 1948. We ate fewer fresh apples but many more oranges, grapefruit, lemons, and limes. The per capita civilian consumption of fresh fruits in 1918 to 1922 and 1944 to 1948 was (in pounds):

The use of commercially processed fruits has increased markedly in the past 25 years. The greatest increase was in canned products, particularly canned juices. The per capita civilian consumption of processed fruits during 1918 to 1922 and 1944 to 1948 was (in pounds) :