Orange juice usually occupies a place within most households, within a few hands of a first meal of the day for many, and perhaps one of the more easily stored and drawn forms is concentrated orange juice. But have you ever thought about how such a well-known product is made? In this article, we will be walking through how concentrated orange juice is made, from the steps involved, from the technology enabling it, as well as the benefits or disadvantages of the method.
The Journey from Orchard to Factory
The picking of oranges begins when they are ripe in the grove of citrus plants. The fruit is grown in some of the most valuable citrus groves from areas like Florida in the United States or Shiraz in Iran, known as the top tropical regions where it does mature.
Juice Extraction
Once the washing procedure is complete, the oranges are sorted and sent into machines, which extract the juice from the oranges. This includes crushing the oranges and squeezing the juice from the pulp and peels. The juice is strained to be free from all solids and becomes completely liquid, immediately ready for the next process.
Concentration Process
This extracted juice then concentrates for low water content to obtain the product, which can be stored and transported efficiently. The most general method known would be evaporation juice has to be heated in reduced pressure, which allows water to evaporate at fairly low temperatures. Most of the flavor and nutrients that they own are kept, however, it reduces the volume of juice.
This means that the juice is weight reduced by approximately 80% concerning simply removing water, for easier, cheaper shipment. Water can be added later at the last place, where the juices are reconfirmed.
Pasteurization
To ensure the safety of the final juice and to extend the shelf life, pasteurization of the concentrated juice will be done. In this pasteurization process, the juice is heated to a certain temperature killing the microorganisms without totally losing the flavor and nutrition. Pasteurization is also a fine art since it is possible to degrade juice by excessive temperature.
The concentrated juice is pasteurized to make the product safe and shelf-stable. Such concentrates, at a concentration of about 65° Brix, can be stored indefinitely at about 18°F (-9°C), or for 30 to 45 days at 32°F (0°C). This is a short but accurate process that aims at eliminating harmful microorganisms without losing too much flavor and nutrition. Pasteurization is a balancing act because too much heat can ruin the quality of the juice.
Packaging and Storage
After these processes, the juice is concentrated and pasteurized, then transferred to the huge, refrigerated.
What does “from concentrate” mean?
To 80% juice, the weight gets reduced by removal of the water thus making transportation easy and inexpensive. From then on, the prepared concentrated juice may further be reconstituted by adding water at its final destination.
At this stage of production, the juice is either converted to not-from-concentrate or bulk-frozen concentrated orange juice. In terms of FCOJ, the manufactured profit is obtained by removing excess water from the extract to give a product that is around 7 times more condensed than the raw juice. They are concentrated and frozen for storage and then transported to all those far-off destinations, after which they are reconstituted and sold to consumers.
Conclusion
Amazingly, it is produced with their farms as well as industrial technology by concentrating orange juice. The production of concentrated orange juice tells the whole story of harvesting, transporting, processing, and marketing at a cost-effective price without sacrificing quality from the gardens to your breakfast table. Since it is not truly comparable to fresh-juice flavors, concentrated orange juice proves popular because of convenience and availability. The next time you have a glass of it, you may appreciate even more how it came to you. If you are looking for quality concentrated oranges, you just need to check out wholesale Orange concentrate page.
