The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-05-11
Grapefruit Juice
Easily Bottled
For Summer use

Washington, May IA simple
method of bottling the juice of
grapefruit for use in making acid
beverages is advocated by the United
States department of agriculture as
means of gaining a useful by-pro-
duct from hundreds of thousands of
cases of grapefruit which are now
wasted. An investigation was I'M
dertaken at the urgent request of
Florida grapefruit growers who re-
ported that the maket during the
season would not take up large
proportion of the grapefruit crop,
and asked the department to deter
mine the possibility of utilizing the
fruit or it's juice in some profitable
way.
All that is necessary, according to
the governments fruit-juice specia-
lists, is to bring the grapefruit juice
to the boiling point in porcelain
lined or enameled kettle, pour it
while still hot into bottles, which
then are Theoretically sealed, The
juice when so handled will keep in
definitely, and provides base for
grapefruit-ade or other acid bever-
ages having the characteristic acid,
somewhat bitter flavor of the fruit.
Experiments show, however, that it
is highly important that the bottle
be completely filled so that no layer
of air be left between the top of the
juice and the cork or seal. Where
air in any amount comes in contact
with the top of the sterilized juice
it will cause the juice to change it's
color. In handling the juice it is
particularly important that it be
kept from coming into contact with
iron or other metals easily acted up
on By acids.
The Investigators found also that
it was possible to freeze the grape
fruit juice to solid ice and then by
whirling the ice in centrifugal
machine, to take out large part of
the water and leave the solids and
fiavoring matter of the fruit. This
freezing and concentrating of the
juice greatly reduces the bulk and
makes a product which can be steri-
liked by heating and kept indefi-
nitely. Care must be taken to keep
the juice from coming in contact
with iron.
Those who wish to make clear
juice, may filter the grapefruit
juice before it is heated by adding
to 1t from two to three per cent.
(about three ounces avordupois to
the gallon) of infusOrial or Fuller's
earth well washed with hot water.
The mixture is then forced through
a metallic filter press and the
clear juice reheated and boiled.
With the freezing process, the juice
is filtered after concentration, about
twice the amount of infusorial or
Fuller's earth being used per gal
lon of concentrate.
The chemists, in connection with
this bottling of grapefruit juice,
notify the public that the same pro-
cess is not suitable for bottling the
juice of oranges and lemons, which
will not retain their flavor if hand
led in this way
While as yet, as far as known,
there is no commercial market for
scterilized grapefruit juice, it is be-
lieved that many persons will find
this juice, with the addition of
water and sugar, pleasant varia-
ton from lemonade or limeade
Those who like grapefruit should
find the beverages inviting. The
method is so simple that those in re-
gions where grapefruit are cheap
and plentiful can prepare this pro-
duct on small scale with ordinary
h ousehold annliances