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Microbiological Quality and Safety of Fruit Juices

Article · January 2013

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Ratih Dewanti-Hariyadi
Bogor Agricultural University
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 safety & quality

Microbiological
Quality and Safety
of Fruit Juices
Ratih Dewanti-Hariyadi
Faculty member at the Department of Food Science and Technology and
researcher at di SEAFAST Center Bogor Agricultural University;
PHPEHURIWKH,QWHUQDWLRQDO&RPPLVVLRQRQ0LFURELRORJLFDO6SHFLÀFDWLRQ
for Foods (ICMSF)

Fruit juices are “non fermented, but fermentable

liquid from edible parts of sound, appropriately
mature and fresh fruit or fruits maintained in fresh
condition by physical means or other
suitable treatments”.

F
ruit juice may be directly
extracted from fruit(s)
or obtained from the
reconstitution of fruit(s)
concentrate. In industrial
application, fruit juice drinks
must contain at least 20% of the
fruit juice.
In general, fruits and fruit
juices have low pH (2.0-4.5)
due to their high organic
acid content, although
somefruits have higher pH,
for example:cantaloupe (pH
6.2-6.5), honeydew (pH 6.3-
6.7), squash (pH 5.0-5.4)
or watermelon (pH 5.2-
5.6). Spoilage fruit juices
are generally resulted from
the growth of acid tolerant
bacteria, yeasts or molds that
are sensitive to pasteurization.
Fruits and fruit juice has been
traditionally assumed as low
risk foods. Recently, however,
fruits as well as fruit juices
have been acknowledged
as “emerging vehicles” for
foodborne illnesses due to
bacterial pathogens, protozoa
and viruses. Increase in the
consumption of fruits or fruit
juices possibly contribute to
the increase in the number of
reported foodborne disease
outbreaks linked to fresh fruit
and fruit juices.
Microbiology of Fruit
Juice
The type of microorganisms
in fruit juice is greatly
LQÁXHQFHGE\WKHW\SHV
of microorganisms in the
respective fruits. For
unpasteurized fruit juices,
presence of high level of
microorganisms in the raw
materials, i.e. the use of inferior
quality of fruits will results in
early detection of spoilage. The
quality of water added or used
for reconstitution of fruit juice
FRQFHQWUDWHDOVRLQÁXHQFHVWKH
quality and safety of thejuices.
Fruits commonly carry
mold, yeasts and bacteria.

54 FOODREVIEW International | VOL. I/NO. 1

Additionally, wounds as a
result of insect bites or other
physical effects can attract
the above microorganisms.
The main microorganisms in
fruit are originated from soil,
for example heat resistant
mold Byssochlamys. Most
microorganisms inhabit the
surfaces of fruit; however,
some Gram-negative bacteria
can be found within the
fruits, e.g. Pseudomonas,
Xanthomonas, Enterobacter
and Corynebacterium.
Duringstorage or distribution,
spoilage microorganisms
known as market diseases
are commonly found, for
example Erwinia carotovora
that causes soft rot as well
as Alternaria and Aspergillus
niger that trigger black spots.
Yeasts commonly found on
the fruit surfaces include
Saccharomyces, Hanseniaspora,
Pichia, Kloeckera, Candida and
Rhodotorulla. In fruits, yeast
population can range from 1000
CFU/g (in sound apples) to 10
million CFU/g in spoiled ones.
Spoilage of Fruit Juice
Due to their low pH
and sugar content, spoilage
of fruit juicesisgenerally
caused by yeast and to a
lesser extent, lactic, acetic
and propionic acid bacteria.
Various sugar fermenting
yeasts (Debaryomyces,
Dekkera, Hanseniaspora
Pichia, Zygosaccharomyces)
can be found, and most
notably,preservative resistant
yeast Zygosaccharomyces bailii.
This yeast is acid tolerant,
xerophillic, extremely resistant
to weak acid preservatives
and produces carbon dioxide
that may lead to distortion or
leakage of can or bottles. To
a lesser extent, Gluconobacter,
Acetobacter and Lactobacillus,
Leuconostocare also found
to cause fruit juice spoilage.
Meanwhile, Propionibacterium
cyclohexanicum has been
isolated from deteriorated
orange juice.These spoilage
microorganisms are readily
inactivated by pasteurization,
thus they are more problematic
in unpasteurized fruit juices.
Pasteurized or heat treated
juices, however, may become
spoiled by a thermoacidophillic
bacteriaAllycloclobacillus
acidoterresis. The outgrowth
RI$OO\F\FOREDFLOOXVLVLQÁXHQFHG
by oxygen; type of product
and residual spore level after
heat treatment Contamination
of this strictlyaerobic spore
formingbacterium in fruit juice
SURGXFHVRIIÁDYRUVDQGYLVLEOH
growth.
Potential Hazards
In addition to quality
issue, growth of mold may
pose health risk. Bissochlamys,
Penicillium and Aspergillus are
of concern since they can
produce mycotoxin patulin in
apple juice. Meanwhile, A. niger
and A. carbonariusare found to
produce other mycotoxins, i. e.
FOODREVIEW International | VOL. I/NO. 1
ochratoxins, in grape juice. P.
expansum, for example, is the
most commonly found mold
that producespatulin in apple
juice. This mycotoxin is a
suspected to have carcinogenic
properties although has low
toxicity to human. A provisional
maximum tolerable daily
intake (PMTDI) of 0.4 μg/
kg body weightfor patulin has
been established by JECFA in
1995. Currently the limit for
patulin in apple juice has been
set at 50 μg/kg (50 ppb) by
various regulatory agencies
such as Codex Alimentarius
Commission, US Food and
Drug Administration and the
Indonesian National Agency
for Drug and Food Control
(NADFC). Ochratoxins,
consisted of ochratoxin A
and B, are commonly found
in cereals but could also be
present in coffee, wine, and
grape juice. Ochratoxin A has
been shown to be nephrotoxic
(toxic to kidney), hepatotoxic
(toxic to liver), teratogenic
(causing malformations of
an embryo or fetus) and
immunotoxic (toxic to immune
system) to several species
of animals, also carcinogenic
in mice and rats and causing
tumors of the kidney and liver.
The European Union as well as
the Indonesian NADFC has set
a limit of 2 ppb of ochratoxin
in grape juice.
Unpasteurized fruit
juices that do not receive
heat treatment may be
55
 contamination by pathogens
such as vegetative bacteria,
parasites or viruses from
human, water and equipment.
Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7,
Norovirus and Cryptosporidium
are the most commonly
encountered. Pasteurization
is commonly used to reduce
the microbial load and
inactivate pathogens in fruit
juices. Depending on the
initial microbial load, various
temperature-time combination
can be appliedto achieve a
5-6 log cycle reduction of the
microorganisms while it still
maintain the nutrient content in
the fruit juices.
Outbreaks Related to
Fruit Juices
Unpasteurized juices
are frequently associated
with foodborne outbreaks.
Although mycotoxinsmay be
found in fruit juices (patulin
in apple juice and ochratoxin
in grape juice), almost all of
the reported outbreaks were
due to pathogenic bacteria,
parasite or viruses. Apple,
orange, guava, watermelon, acai,
mamey and mixed fruit juices
have been reported to cause
outbreaks worldwide. Other
products linked to outbreaks
are reconstituted juices and
frozen puree or pulp. Freezing
is known to decrease only
about 2 log cycle of bacteria,
thus it is not an effective
means of pathogen elimination.
Inadequate sanitation of the
56 FOODREVIEW International | VOL. I/NO. 1
equipment (blender/juicer)
and presence of pathogens in
water used for reconstitution
have been attributed as factors
associated to the above
outbreaks.
Rarely, fruit juice outbreaks
have occurred due to Salmonella
Typhior Shigella, which are
indicative of poor personal
hygiene. Noroviruses notably
are the most commonly
found virus to cause infection,
while Trypanosoma and
Cryptosporidium are protozoa
associated with fruit juice.
Bacterial pathogens often
contaminate and thusmost
commonly associatedwith
foodborne infections due
to juices are Salmonella and
Escherichia coli O157:H7. While
most pathogens in fruit juice
do not cause fatality in the
outbreaks, E. coli O157:H7
does. In addition to bloody
diarrhea, this group of E. coli has
been reported to cause other
sequellae such as kidney failure
(hemolytic uremic syndrome)
thus can be fatal. A summary of
foodborne outbreaks due to
fruit juice is presented in
Table 1.
Control of
Microbiological Quality
and Safety Control of
Fruit Juices
Although foodborne
outbreaks related to the
consumption of unpasteurized
fruit juice are often reported, it
is possible to produce safe fruit
juices. The control has to be
placed along the production line
starting from the receiving of
fruit as the major raw materials.
Only fruits produced with
Good Agricultural Practices,
appropriately mature and sound
can be used. Sorting must be
done to remove damaged and
spoiled part of fruits. Trimming
out of rotten apple for making
apple juice, for example, has
been reported to reduce 90
percent of patulin. Refrigeration
is a must and length of storage
should be limited. Several
guidelines for good hygienic
practices in the production
of unpasteurized juices are
available elsewhere.
Properly pasteurized fruit
juices are generally considered
as safe and very rarely
associated with foodborne
disease outbreaks. To reduce
the use of heat, weak acid
preservatives (citric acid,
benzoic acid, sulfur dioxide
or their combination) are
generally added. In addition,
refrigeration at 5oC or lower
has to be applied to control
spoilage microorganisms
that survive pasteurization.
Recently a new technology,
i.e. high pressure processing
has been demonstrated to
inactivate microorganisms in
certain fruit juices equals to
pasteurization while maintaining
WKHLUÁDYRUVLQFHQRKHDWLV
applied. Pressurization at 600
MPa, 20 8C for 60 s reduces
the initial bacterial count of 7.8
 log/ml and yeast count of 4.8
Table. Foodborne outbreaks due to juices* log CFU/ml in orange juice to
Type Product Pathogen Year Location Venue
Cases below the detection limit. The
(death)
XQVSHFL¿HG Trypanosoma cruzi 2004 Brazil Retail 27
process also inactivates 7 logs
Acai
XQVSHFL¿HG Trypanosoma cruzi 2007 Brazil Retail 25 of Salmonella(Bull et al. 2004).
Salmonella Farm, small
unpasteurized 1974 US (NJ) 296
Typhimurium retail

unpasteurized
Escherichia coli
1980 Canada (ON) Local market 14 (1)
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FOODREVIEW International | VOL. I/NO. 1 57

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