Fruit juice processing

Tien -Thanh Nguyen, Ph.D - HUST

Nov.2020
Fruit juice
• Non alcoholic - Fruit based beverage containing extract (and pulp as well) from
fruit
• There are thus two principal juice product types dominaHng today’s markets. ,
• ReconsHtuted juices: The majority of fruit juice as supplied to the consumer is
made by reconsHtuHng concentrated juice with water to a composiHon similar
to that of the original state. ReconsHtuted juices are oMen packed in asepHc
long-life containers
• Fresh ‘single-strength’ juice, made by squeezing fruit, subjecHng it to limited
processing, and packaging and selling it within a cold chain distribuHon
system. Such juice is usually referred to as ‘not from concentrate’, or direct
juice, and it will have a shelf life that varies from 1–2 weeks to 2–3 months.
Nutrition
• Fruit juice is important in human nutri1on
• a refreshing source of liquid.
• vitamins and minerals – as well as carbohydrates,
• small amounts of proteins and fats.
• calcium, iron, vitamin A, thiamin (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2) and ascorbic
acid (vitamin C).
• presence of certain flavonoid compounds
• Several components with anDoxidant acDvity are found in fruit juices. These include
ascorbic acid, tocopherols (vitamin E), beta-carotene and flavonoids..
• It should be noted that changes occur during storage, par1cularly to the
minor components of juices, and par1cularly under adverse condi1ons
(e.g. light, increasing temperature, 1me).
Fruit types for juice
processing

• The succulent or fleshy fruits,

where the seeds are ripened or
supported within soft or fleshy
mass, containing food materials
 Citrus fruit
Stone fruit

Pome fruit
General
processing of
juice
Overall processing
• fruits are collected, sorted and washed,
• mechanical compressed depend on type of fruit. Some fruit types
require mechanical treatment (milling), coupled with a biochemical
process (involving enzymes) to break down the cellular structure and
obtain the best yields. Addi@onally, a diffusion or water extrac@on
process can be used to obtain best yields from certain fruits.
• If juice is to be sold as ‘not from concentrate’, it is usually screened
and pasteurized immediately to control the growth of spoilage
micro-organisms.
Overview of processing
• Juice concentration: screening to remove cellular debris, and then
multi-stage evaporation process to remove most of the water and other
volatile material. Evaporators also recover the volatile aromatic substances
that are partly responsible for giving fruit juices their sensory
characteristics.
• Storage after concentration: freezing at below –10°C for effective
preservation, or under aseptic conditions, or in sulphited conditions (e.g.
1500–2000 ppm sulphur dioxide.
• Adulteration
• over-dilution of juices with water;
• use of cheaper solid ingredients (particularly sugars);
• blending of cheaper with more expensive juices.
• Packaging
Adulteration

For juice reconstituted

from concentrate, the
minumum Brix should be
followed the law
Fruit processing
• Depending on fruit’s nature, shape, size, harves@ng characteris@cs,
may require specialised treatment during processing.
• The fruit supply must be obtained in a correct state of maturity and the
juice expressed in the most efficient manner possible. Then, if
required, the juice is treated with enzymes (e.g. pectolases, cellulases,
etc.) as a prerequisite to clarifica@on, to be followed by a suitable
filtra@on stage before concentra@on and eventual packaging or
storage.
• In citrus fruits: the outer skin containing citrus oils that are useful as flavouring
substances, but detrimental to juice quality.
• For stone fruits: separate stone before being processed in order to facilitate the
ease of handling and the avoidance of unwanted notes in the finished product.
Processing of fleshy fruit
• For separa@on of juice:
• Press and centrifugaHon

Decanter can be used in combina0on with press

systems to increase the efficiency.
The output liquid will be further clarified in
separator
Decanters are also of use in the produc0on of
fruit purée.
 The use of enzymes in fruit juice processing

• Pectin is an essential structural component of fruits, forming fruit tissue

with hemicellulose
• For better extraction and clear juice pectin must be degraded
• External pectinase can be added to support the endogenous enzyme in fruit
in milling step
• Commercial Pectinase is produced from fungal sources (i.e. Aspergillus sp.,
Rhizopus sp.), can operate comfortably between pH 2.5–6.0 and
temperatures between 30–60°C
• Enzyme can be dosed at the recommended level (e.g. 0.1%) into the
pre-warmed mash, which is well mixed and left to stand for a about 1-2 h at
constant temperature.
Extraction of citrus juices
• For citrus fruits, the outer peel of the citrus fruit, contains a rich source of
the essential oil.
• Typically:
• The fruit will be passed over a rasping device (e.g. an abrasive roller), to pierce and
disrupt the oil glands, thus releasing the oil to be washed away for collection by a
water spray. From here, it may be recovered by centrifugation and dried.
• The rasped fruit is moved into an extractor, where the juice is expressed and
recovered,
• The expressed juice is subjected to screening before being further processed
Juice concentra>on

• By different methods
• With heating
• Freezing
• Hyperfiltration
Evapora>on

• Can reach higher concentra@on of juice

• Nega@ve effect of hea@ng on quality should
be cared: flavour loss, color and taste
Recovery of flavour

Vapour from evaporation is

collected and recovered
flavour
Freeze concentration

• the advantage: no loss of volatile flavour components, as in the

evaporation procedures.
• Freeze concentration is carried out by crystallisation of water from
the juice. The crystals are removed by screening or centrifugation.
• Due to the increasing of viscosity, the limited level can up to 55%
Hyper- and ultrafiltra>on

• Use of selective membranes, water may be removed by filtration from

the juice, in order to effect its concentration.
• Depending upon the molecular size of the compounds and the cut-off
value of the membrane used, there is likely to be some loss of flavour
components.
• These may be recovered from its permeate by distillation, and
returned to the juice concentrate. Concentration by these methods is
less effective in terms of folding than other methods, but it can
provide advantages in specific cases, for example capital costs
associated with hyperfiltration are somewhat less than ≈ 10–30% for
evaporative systems with aroma recovery equipment.
Example of juice processing
• Orange juice
• Apple juice
 Example 1.
Orange juice
processing

Tetra pak/orange book

=
Fruit recep>on

• Fruit is delivered in trucks which discharge their loads at the fruit reception
area.
• The fruit may be prewashed to get rid of immediate surface dirt and
pesticide residue before any leaves and stems still attached to the fruit are
removed.
• Then follows pregrading by manual inspection to remove any unsuitable
fruit. Sound fruit is conveyed to storage bins. Damaged fruit goes directly to
the feed mill.
Extrac>on
• Extrac1on involves squeezing or reaming juice out of either whole or
halved oranges by means of mechanical pressure.
• AWer final washing and inspec1on, the fruit is separated according to size
into different streams or lanes. Individual oranges are directed to the most
suitable extractor in order to achieve op1mum juice yield.
Clarification
• After extraction, the pulpy juice (about 50 % of the fruit) is clarified by
primary finishers which separate juice from pulp.
• The finishing process is a mechanical separation method based on
sieving.
• The juice stream is further clarified by centrifugation.
• The pulp stream may then go to pulp recovery or to pulp washing.
Pulp levels in pulpy juice from the extractors are
generally around 20–25 % of floa0ng and sinking pulp
NFC production
Reduc0on oil can be done by liquid
liquid separator
Juice Concentra>on
Example. 2: Apple juice processing

William H. Root and Diane M. Barrett. Apples and Apple Processing, in

Processing fruits – Science and Technology, 2005
Receiving, washing and sorting apples
• Apples for juice are received either by the bulk truck load or pallet bins,
into a water filled receiving tank.
• In this tank the apples are soaked to remove soil and other foreign
material.
• The raw fruit is then conveyed from the water to be inspected, and any
damaged or decayed fruit removed or trimmed.
• A mycotoxin (patulin produced by Penicillium expansium) can be
concerned ( < 50 ppb the finished juice). The brush scrubbers can used to
remove any decayed areas on the fruit to eliminate patulin.
• Sorting and trimming of apples to remove damage or decayed fruit is
mandatory. If not removed, damaged or decayed fruit may also impart off-
flavors to the finished product and increase the risk of microbiological
contamination
Juice extrac>on
• Before pressing, whole apples are ground into a mash or pulp for extraction.
• This mashing process is accomplished with either a disintegrator, hammer, or
grating mill. These mills crush or cut the apple to proper consistency, depending
on the maturity of fruit.
• When milling firm fruit for juice, small particles are desired.
• The pressing process can be batch or continuous, depending upon the type of
press used;
• pressure via hydraulic: very labor intensive but requires no press aid, and the juice has a low
level of solids.
• New version are automatic, allowing a greater percentage of juice extraction from a given
volume of apple pulp but require press aids, as added 1 to 2% paper pulp and/or rice hulls, to
reduce slippage and increase juice channels in the mash
• Predrainers of different types, including rotating basket and traveling belt, have been used to
extract free-run juice from the mash. This reduces the volume being mixed with the press aid
for final pressing
Juice extrac>on
• Enzyme Pec@nase added at 80 to 120 ml/t of apple mash can improve
the pressability of the mash and therefore the throughput and yield.
• The enzymes will break down the cell structure: high molecular
weight cons@tuents of cell walls, like protopec@n, are insoluble,
inhibit the extrac@on of the juice from the fruit, and keep solid
par@cles suspended in the juice.
• With enzyme treatment the viscosity of the juice is lowered, and it
can emerge more easily from the mash.
• By inexpensive pretreatment of mash with enzymes and hea@ng to
50∞C, the press throughput can be increased about 30 to 40% and
juice recovery increased over 20%. Mash pretreatment will also
increase the flux rate of ultrafiltered apple juice up to 50%.
Enzyme treatment
• raw apple juice for clarified juice is enzyme-treated to remove suspended
solid material.
• The soluable pectin in the juice has colloidal properties and inhibits the
separation of the undissolved cloud particles from the clear juice. Pectinase
enzyme hydrolyzes the pectin molecule so it can no longer hold juice.
• Depectinization resulting in viscosity reduction and the formation of
galacturonic acid groups that help flocculating the suspended matter. This
material, if not removed, blinds filters, reduces production, and can result in
a haze in the final juice product.
• Two methods of enzyme treatment are commonly used:
• (1) hot treatment where the enzymes are added to 54oC juice, mixed, and held for 1 to
2h
• (2) cold treatment where the enzymes are added to room temperature (20oC) juice and
held for 6 to 8 h
Enzyme treatment
• The fractured pectin chains and tannins are removed from apple juice by
addition of gelatin or bentonite.
• The positively charged gelatin will facilitate removal of the negatively charged
suspended colloidal material from the juice.
• Bentonite, a clay fining agent, can be added to increase efficiency of settling,
for protein removal, and to prevent cloudiness caused by metal ions.
• Enzymes are usually not used when producing cloudy or natural apple juice
• Starch and arabans (may cause post-process clouding in a clear juice) can be
treated with amylase and arabinase enzymes.
Clarifica>on
• After the enzyme treatment and the fining and settling process, the apple
juice is pumped from the settled material (lees) and further clarified by
filtration.
• Many types of juice filters are available pressure leaf, rotary vacuum, frame,
belt, and millipore filters.
• filter aid such as diatomite is used for better filtration.
• Additional juice can be recovered from the tank bottoms (“lees”) by
centrifugation. This recovered juice can then be added back to the raw juice
prior to filtration.
• Ultrafiltration based on membrane separation has been used with good
results to separate, clarify, and concentrate various food products.
Ultrafiltration of apple juice cannot only clarify the product but, depending
on the size of the membrane, can remove the yeast and mold
microorganisms common in apple juice.
Pasteuriza>on
• For preserva@on of single strength apple juice.
• Flash pasteuriza@on is used in which the juice is heated to near the
boiling point (greater than 88°C) for 25 to 30 seconds.
• Plate or tubular heat exchanger are used
• Steam or hot water passes the juice between plates or through
narrow tubes that are heated. Design of the heat exchanger provides
juice flow turbulence and even hea@ng to prevent scorching and
burn-on in the unit. There are numerous flash pasteuriza@on heat
exchangers available. They are all adaptable to a con@nuous
opera@on set-up.
Concentration
• The single-strength apple juice is concentrated by
• evaporation or freeze concentration, preferably 70 to 71o Brix.
• by reverse osmosis to about 40∞ Brix, then further conventionally concentrated.
• There are several evaporation systems used for apple juice,
• rising film evaporators,
• falling film evaporators,
• multiple effect tubular and plate evaporators.
• Due to the heat sensitivity of the apple juice, the multiple effect evaporator with
aroma recovery is most commonly used.
• heating the juice in the second stage to about 90oC and evaporate-capturing the volatile
(aroma) by distillation.
• This is followed by reheating the 20 to 25o Brix juice concentrate in the first stage to about
100oC and evaporating it to about 40 to 45o Brix à heating it again to about 45oC,
evaporating to about 50 to 60oBrix; à final heating to 45oC and evaporating it to 71∞ Brix.
• The warm concentrate is chilled to 4 to 5oC prior to standardizing to 70o Brix prior to barreling
or bulk storage
Preservation
• use of chemicals such as benzoic or sorbic acid and sulfur dioxide is
not commonly practiced.
• If chemicals are used, it is only to reduce spoilage of unpasteurized
juice either in bulk storage or as an aid in helping to preserve
refrigerated products.