Tomato processing in history

The first tomatoes can be traced to the South American Andes Mountains where they grew wild as cherry sized berries. Europeans were introduced to the tomato in the late 15th century to early mid-16th century, and generally reacted with fear and scorn, due largely to the tomato’s membership in the family Solanacea, which includes many poisonous species such as the deadly nightshade.

An early as 1540s tomato started being produced in Spanish field and was used regularly as a common food in early 17th century other European countries did not adopt tomato immediately.

Tomato processing began in 1847, when Harrison Woodhull Crosby, the chief gardener at Lafayette College developed a crude method of canning tomatoes. Prior to 1890 all tomato canning was done by hand.

In 1897 soup mogul Joseph Campbell came out with condensed tomato soup, a move that set the company on the road to wealth as well as further endearing the tomato to the general public.

According to Jackson Morrow in his book entitled “The History of Howard County” states that tomato juice was first served as a beverage drink in 1917 by Louis Perrin at the French Lick springs Hotel in Southern Indiana, when he ran out of orange juice and needed a quick substitute. His combination of squeezed tomatoes, sugar and his special sauce became an instant success as Chicago business men.

Industry techniques improved with canning technology, and tomato juice came on the market with the development of the juice extractor in the 1920s.

In 1924 a local physician had requested that Kemp brothers develop a baby food that he could use feed babies in his clinic. Kemp brothers succeeded by creating new equipment and a new process that reduced the tomato solids to such fineness by homogenization that they did not settle as sediment. Canned tomato juice came out of this research four years later, on August 31, 1928.
Tomato processing in history

History of apple cider

Drawings from the Paleolithic age dates from between 35,000 and 8,000 BC depict apples, and the people of this era probably discovered that wild yeast would quickly act upon the fruits to ferment it. Prehistoric peoples would have tasted this kind of natural cider.

The Aryans, nomadic tribes appeared in history around 2500 BC developed a taste for “soured apple wine,” the forerunner of apple juice.

The name cider is rooted in the Phoenician “shekar” meaning wine or strong drink. In classical Greece apples were boiled and fermented to make “sikera”.

The cider-making technology was spread throughout the northern coast of Europe by Celts as they traveled from Spain to England and Ireland.

In 55 B.C.E., Romans invaded what is now Britain and noticed native Celts fermenting native crab apples to make cider. The apple was a sacred fruit to the Celtics according to their mythology.

The Muslim Moors are probably responsible for developing the bitter high tannin apples that make the richest ciders. In France, the Normans developed a love for cider and apple brandy. During Charlemagne era, era, he enforced laws to promote and control the manufacture and production of cider.

In North America the term for this alcoholic beverage is hard cider. Hard cider is believed to have roots from the winemaking technology in the Basque country of northern Spain. Hard cider came to the U.S. with the first English settlers, who brought apple seeds with them to plant in their new home.

In 1623, William Blackstone of Plymouth planted the first cultivated tree. Other American followed suit and planted trees wherever they would grow. Pressing and fermenting apple juice served as the easiest way for farmers to preserve the apple harvest and farmers typically used cider as the basis for many other products, including cider vinegar, applejack.

Historical records reveal that cider was an integral part of every life of rural folk in 19th century New England, Cider presses were part of the New England landscape.

In England, Lord Scudamore is credited with having bottled cider as early as the 1640s at Home Lacy, at a time when almost all cider was stored in wooden barrels and drawn off “on draft” as needed.

The slight fermentations that took place in the bottles released carbon dioxide gas, which produced a sparkling drink and helped preserve the cider better. Around the 18th century about two thousand varieties of apples were grown. Many scientific methods had been developed to improve and speed up the production of cider.
History of apple cider

Peach processing

This fruit originated in China as early as 550 BC it was depicted in art and literature as a symbol of immortality. Later it was introduced into Persia and was spread by the Romans throughout Europe.

The first peaches were brought to Florida by Columbus and the Spaniards on their second or third expedition, and in the early 1800s the Russians reportedly brought peach seeds or trees by ship to San Francisco and planted them near Fort Ross.

It has been a commercial crop since the 1800s with Georgia even being known as the Peach State.

Until 1964 all peaches used for canning were dual-purpose (for eating fresh or preserving in cans) and they were always yellow-fleshed freestone varieties. Today clingstone peaches of the variety called Pavie, with a firm yellow flesh, are used.
Peach processing

History of modified atmosphere packaging

Modified atmosphere packaging can be defined as an alteration in the composition of gases in and around fresh produce by respiration and transpiration when such commodities are sealed in plastic films.

Much of original work was done in Australia and New Zealand when beef and lamb carcasses were shipped in the 1930s to the UK was stored in carbon dioxide to help maintain freshness.

During the 1940s and 1950s fresh apples and pears were placed in enclosed warehouse. The natural respiratory activities of the fruit reduced the oxygen and increased the carbon dioxide within storage areas sufficiently to slow respiration markedly.

The stored apples or pears could be consumed as much as six months after the original harvest: and extensions of about double the normal chilled storage shelf-life. In the 1970s, modified atmosphere packages were used for some retail packs of meat and fish.

The new techniques have been developed, including micro-perforation, anti-fogging layers to improve product visibility.

The use of modified atmosphere packaging technology received a significant boost when the retail chain of Marks and Spencer introduced a wide range of fresh MAD meat products in the UK in 1981.

Today, modified atmosphere packaging is used to package anything from fresh salads or individual meat portions, to sandwiches and snacks.
History of modified atmosphere packaging