The world market of juices is divided into 4 categories of juices: freshly squeezed, direct pressed, concentrated and reconstituted, ie, made from concentrated juice. Of all the juices that are presented in our stores, 98% are made from concentrated juices and only 2% are juice of direct pressing. The most popular concentrated juice is apple. Today we will talk about him.
How to make juices
Concentrated juice from apples is made by direct pressing of raw materials. The resulting juice is sent to centrifuges, where it is cleaned of suspensions, and then heated and sent to a special installation. Here, aromatic substances are trapped, which are then packaged in a concentrated form into containers. At the same stage, water evaporates to 15% of the total volume. The remaining liquid raw materials without aromatic constituents are sent to the clarification stage by pectolytic enzymes with gelatin for 4 hours, and then passed through the lamellar and kieselguhr filters located one after the other. As a result, a clear, clarified juice is obtained, which is then "evaporated" in thin-film "steam rooms" to a solids content of 70%.
Quite often, before the aromatic capture procedure, the freshly squeezed juice is heated to 92-96 ° C and immediately cooled to 40 ° C. Thus there is a coagulation of colloidal particles and purification of juice from various microorganisms.
Chemical composition of juices
Apple juice in a concentrated form has a very interesting chemical composition. It contains from 60 to 80% of amine nitrogen from the total content of total nitrogen. In addition, the concentrate contains amino acids such as valine, leucine, threonine, aminobutyric acid, lysine, arginine, aspartic acid, serine, asnaragin, glutamic acid, phenylalanine, alanine, tyrosine. Also, it contains a large amount of monosaccharides, which under the influence of high temperature and low pH break down into components with the formation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural.
Classification of juice
Any concentrates, including concentrated apple, have their own classification, which depends on the drinks that will subsequently be made of them:
- Semi-finished products. They are used to make 100% of apple juices by adding water.
- Fundamentals. This type of concentrate is used for making beverages and various nectars.
- Concentrates that have passed the intermediate processing at the plant. It is believed that such concentrates contain 100% of apples. But in reality this is not so. It is in such concentrated apple raw materials that sugar, other fruit concentrates or flavorings identical to natural are most often added. Such a category of concentrates is not frosted, but packed into aseptic packaging.
- Pure apple concentrates with 100% content of the main component. They are produced only from high-quality apples in the places of their cultivation. In this case, such concentrates are most often subjected to freezing.
Use and Appearance
Apple concentrate is similar in appearance to the syrup of a very dense consistency in color corresponding to the color of apples. If the juice contains flesh or it was frozen, it looks like soft ice cream. At the same time, it should be noted that in a frozen concentrate, in no case should there be ice crystals.
Concentrated juice from apples has a wide scope of use. Nectars, reconstituted juices and juice-containing drinks are made from it. In addition, the concentrate is used to prepare various jellies, all kinds of fillings. But nevertheless, it is worth remembering that in pure form apple concentrate can not be used for food.
We hope that our article will be useful to you and you, when going to the store for your favorite apple juice or nectar, will know what you should get to get the most benefits for the body.