Fruit Concentrates and its Magic in the Creation of Food and Beverages

Fruit concentrates are fruits without water and fibres. They are made by removing water from freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juice. It is usually used as base stock for various food products. With less volume, it contains soluble solids of 65%-70%. Fruit juice concentrate process is an effective way to reduce packing and transportation cost.

- Vibha Gaur

Concentrates made from 100% fruit are the healthiest option. There may be an impression that juice from concentrate is not so good in comparison with natural freshly expressed juice. But in reality, as long as no additional sugars and preservatives are added, there really isn’t any difference! Both types of juices go through a similar pasteurizing process which involves removing potentially harmful pathogens that could have been in the fruit. The squash is heated quickly to kill off pathogens. Juices made from concentrates are juiced directly from the fruit before being filtered to extract the water through a processor – this saves space when it’s being transported. Before it is packaged up and sold to the public, water is added again and then pasteurized. Whereas “not from concentrate” juice is produced by juicing the fruit before simply pasteurizing it.

Oranges are the most frequently processed fruits for the production of juices and juice concentrates .

Orange juice possesses a very delicate flavor owing to the presence of a mixture of volatile compounds. During storage, changes in these flavor fractions may lead to a loss of freshness and original taste. Gradually developing unpleasant odors deteriorate the original taste of the product. High acidity and storage temperature promote such changes. Vitamin C degradation associated with the availability of oxygen has also been nominated as one of the major causes of the flavor changes. The oxygen-barrier property of the packaging materials determines the extent of oxygen penetration. Besides the oxygen-barrier nature of the packaging, higher storage temperature promotes the oxygen permeability of the packaging material.