Concentration and Drying of Fruit Juices
Concentration and Drying of Fruit Juices
Concentration and Drying of Fruit Juices
FRUIT JUICES
introduction
• Fruit juices are watery mixtures of most unstable volatile compounds.
• The solid content of most liquid food is 8-16% and is expensive to pack,
store for long periods or to transport to distant places. Hence, it is
desirable to remove a part or all of the water from such liquids.
• Fruit juice concentrates are valuable semi-finished products for use in
the production of:
1. fruit juice
2. fruit juice beverage
3. fruit juice powder.
Advantages of concentration
• Provides microbiological stability
• Shelf life extension
• Permits economy in packaging, transportation and
distribution of the finished product.
Methods of concentration
• The methods used for concentration include the following:
1. Evaporative concentration under vacuum
2. Membrane concentration: Ultrafiltration, Reverse
osmosis, Microfiltration
3. Freeze concentration
Thermal evaporation under vacuum
Drawback of RO:
• It limits the upper concentration level at about 28 degree Brix.
Combined UF and RO
• Initially, the fruit juice is passed through UF system to remove
suspended solids.
• The UF permeate is directed to an RO system to simultaneously
concentrate the flavor and aroma compounds, sugars and amino
acids for eventual reconstitution to single strength juice.
• This allows for concentration of orange juice to levels of ~ 42
degree Brix. On commercial scale up to 45-55 degree Brix can be
achieved.
Drying of Fruit Juices
• Fruit may be dried as a whole (e.g., grapes, various berries, apricot,
plum, etc.), in sliced form (e.g., banana, mango, papaya, kiwi, etc.), in
puree form (e.g., mango, apricot, etc.), as leather, or as a powder by
spray or drum drying. Depending on the physical form of the fruit (e.g.,
whole, paste, slices), different types of dryers must be used for drying.
• The advantages of fruit and vegetable drying are compensated by some
negative changes that occur during drying, for example, heat damage of
heat-sensitive constituents (vitamins, enzymes, etc.); browning,
shrinkage, and case hardening; irreversible loss of ability to rehydrate;
loss of volatile constituents; and changes in moisture distribution within
the product.
Methods of drying fruit juices
• There are several methods of drying the fruit and vegetables, solar
drying being the oldest one. The type of dryers is listed below:
a. Fluidized bed dryers
b. Spray dryers
c. Contact dryers
d. Foam drying
e. Vacuum and
f. Freeze drying
Spray drying
• Some fruit or vegetable powders are produced from juices, concentrates, or pulps by using a
spray drying technique.
• The drying is achieved by spraying of the slurry into an airstream at a temperature of 138°C
to 150°C and introducing cold dry air either into the outlet end of the dryer or to the dryer
walls to cool them to 38°C– 50°C.
• The most commonly used atomizers are rotary wheel and single-fluid pressure nozzle.
• A wide range of fruit and vegetable powders can be dried, agglomerated, and instantized in
spray drying units, specially equipped with an internal static fluidized bed, integral filter, or
external vibro-fluidizer.
• Bananas, peaches, apricots, and to a lesser extent citrus powders are examples of products
dried by such techniques.
• Spray drying of soluble fruit powders and convective drying of fruit and vegetables reduces
the thermo-plasticity of particles and product hygroscopicity.
• They also eliminate the need for adding stabilizers which may adversely affect the sensory
properties of the final product.
Foam drying
• Foam mat and foam spray drying are two foam drying methods. Foam mat dried fruit or
vegetable powders have fewer heat-induced changes in color and flavor than conventional
spray dried or drum dried products.
• It yields product with lower density than that of a conventional dryer. The product density is
about equal to the density of instantized or agglomerated powder.
• A stable gas-liquid foam is a prerequisite. Glycerol monostearate, solubilized soya protein,
and propylene glycol monostearate are the typical additives for the fruit and vegetable foam
formulation from juice or pulp.
• Foam mat drying involves drying a thin layer (0.1–0.5 mm) of the stabilized foam in air at
65°C–70°C for a few minutes, as the foam structure decreases drying time to about one-
third.
• The foam is spread on perforated floor craters as the airstream is forced through the bed. A
continuous belt tray dryer or a modified spray dryer can be used.
• Good quality tomato, apple, grape, orange, and pineapple powders can be produced by this
technique. Optimal initial concentration of feed solids is in the range of 30% for tomato and
55% for orange.
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