Louis G. MacDowell

Dr. Louis Gardner MacDowell was an American food scientist [ [http://www.floridahistory.org/floridians/econfla.htm] ] and as stated in the University of Florida’s 2007 Edition of “Outstanding Gator Alumni” he was a member of the three-man team that developed citrus concentrate in 1945. [http://www.gatorzone.com/baseball/media/2007/pdf/experience/alumni.pdf] With the help of Edwin L. Moore and C. D. Atkins they revolutionized Florida’s citrus industry. [http://www.lal.ufl.edu/about/History/frozenconcentrate.htm University of Florida: Citrus Research & Education Center-Brief History of Frozen Concentrate] ]

Early struggles of orange juice

The production of orange juice became a multi-million dollar industry in Florida during the Second World War. Frozen orange juice used to be just a flavorless commercial flop. Americans buy 4.8 million six-ounce cans of frozen orange juice, but most consumers found the product unacceptable. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE4D6123FF93BA35755C0A9669C8B63 The New York Times: June 8, 2000- C. D. Atkins, 86, Inventor of Orange Juice Process] ] The only orange juice once available was squeezed from fresh oranges, mixed from a relatively tasteless concentrate, or poured from a can (and it tasted like a can). Lots of good Florida oranges were going to waste. [ [http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/Florida/beverage-orangejuice.html Florida State Beverage ] ]

Working to make it better

In the early 1940’s, the Florida Citrus Commission asked the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for assistance in improving the quality of processed orange products. The goal was to provide better juice for the armed forces and make more efficient use of Florida's orange crop.

The process of concentrating juice by heating it to evaporate much of its water content is well known, but the Florida Citrus Commission asked research scientists at Lakeland to improve the taste. The work began in 1942 at a USDA laboratory in Lakeland, Florida. Dr. Louis Gardner MacDowell devised a "cutback" technique that over-concentrated the juice and then added fresh juice to the concentrate, restoring some of the vitamin C (ascorbic acid) lost in heating. Winter Haven born inventors Edwin L. Moore and C. D. Atkins, both chemists and research scientists with the USDA, helped MacDowell refine the process to produce a concentrate whose sweetness, flavor, and acidity are more uniform after dilution than fresh-squeezed orange juice. It took them three years to create and refine the process.

Getting a patent

The three men obtained a patent in 1946 under an agreement that assigns all rights to the federal government. He took the idea to USDA researchers, the folks with the equipment and expertise to help develop the idea. Not only did it work but the vastly improved concentrate could be easily frozen. And so began the success story that's now such a familiar sight on the breakfast table-frozen concentrated orange juice. [ [http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/k7237-8.htm Image Number k7237-8 ] ]

uccess

Their new frozen concentrate found wide acceptance and was marketed through the "Snow Crop" label which would later become Minute Maid.Oranges are now in such oversupply that Florida growers have been cutting down trees and replacing them with avocado trees. [ [http://www.answers.com/topic/1946 1946: Information and Much More from Answers.com ] ]

Honors

All three men were inducted together into the "Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame" in 1986 for their contributions to the Citrus Industry. [ [http://www.flaghalloffame.com/inductees/1986/1986.html 1986 Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame Inductees] ] The three were also recognized as Great Floridians in 2007, honoring persons who made major contributions to the progress and welfare of the state of Florida. [ [http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0267/SEC0731.HTM&Title=-%3E2001-%3ECh0267-%3ESection%200731 Florida Legislature website: The 2007 Florida Statutes-Title XVIII] ]

Dr. MacDowell died in July, 1986.

References

External links

* [http://www.floridahistory.org/floridians/econfla.htm Article about Dr. MacDowell]
* [http://www.gatorzone.com/basketball/women/media/2007/pdf/experience/ProminentUFAlum.pdf Prominent UF alumni list]