Producing Quality Grape Juice

INTRODUCTION The first grape juice known to be processed in the United States was produced by Dr. Thomas B. Welch, a New Jersey dentist, in 1869 with the newly developed pasteurization process. Assisted by his wife and their 17-year-old son, Charles, he extracted juice from 18 kg (40 lb) of grapes (Vitis labrusca L.). They filtered and bottled the juice and pasteurized it in hot water to kill the yeasts. Their product was used for the sacrament on the Communion table of the Vineland New Jersey Methodist Church. Orders for the juice, mainly for Communions, increased after this initial effort until most of the family's time during harvest season was devoted to preparing grape juice (1). From this relatively small but ambitious beginning, Dr. Welch had established a new industry. The elder Welch turned the endeavor over to Charles in 1872, and before long the young man had a full-time business. In 1896 he moved his operation to Watkins, New York, closer to a large grape-growing area. The following year he built a plant in Westfield, New York, which processed 300 tons of grapes during the first year of operation. Between 1912 and 1926, Welch introduced a number of new supplementary products. Jams and jellies were two of these products; although successful, they were a small part of the early operation (1). However, grape jams and jellies are currently the leading fruit spreads in the United States. In recent years, consumption of grape juice and grape products has continued to increase. In 1987, each person in the U.S. consumed an average of 887 ml (30 oz) of unfermented grape juice. In 1987, the per capital consumption of grape jams and jellies purchased in U.S. food stores was estimated at 380 g (13.4 oz). This estimate does not take into consideration hone-made spreads or institutional sales. Most of the juice for the grape drink and grape products is made from Concord grapes grown chiefly in Washington, New York, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Arkansas (6).