Apple juice is a juice made by the maceration and screw press of an apple. The resulting expelled juice may be further treated by enzymatic and centrifugal clarification to remove the starch and pectin, which holds fine particulate in suspension, and then pasteurization for packaging in glass, metal, or aseptic processing system containers, or further treated by dehydration processes to a concentrate.
Due to the complex and costly equipment required to extract and clarify juice from apples in large volume, apple juice is normally produced commercially. In the United States, unfiltered fresh apple juice is made by smaller operations in areas of high apple production, in the form of unclarified apple cider. Apple juice is one of the most common fruit juices globally, with world production led by China, Poland, the United States, and Germany.[ USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. World Apple Juice Situation. 2004-2005. Retrieved 2008-02-20.]
Production
Apples used for apple juice are usually harvested between September and mid-November in the Northern Hemisphere and between February and mid-April in the Southern Hemisphere. A common cultivar used for apple juice is the McIntosh. Approximately two medium McIntosh apples produce around of juice. After the apples are picked, they are washed and transported to the processing facility. The apples are then pressed and juiced right away to avoid
Food spoilage.
Depending on the company and end-product, the apples can be processed in different ways before pressing. Apple juice is then filtered, with the number of solid particles remaining partly defining the difference between apple juice and
apple cider. In cases where the apple juice is treated enzymatically, the typical class of enzymes used are
.
Pasteurization
Because apple juice is acidic, typically with a pH of 3.4, it can be
pasteurization for less time or at lower temperatures than many other juices. For this purpose, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends the following thermal processing times and temperatures in order to achieve a five-
log reduction of
Cryptosporidium parvum as this parasite is more heat resistant than :
-
for at least 6 seconds
-
for at least 2.8 seconds
-
for at least 1.3 seconds
-
for at least 0.6 second
-
for at least 0.3 second
Unpasteurized juice and foodborne illnesses
From 2000 to 2010, there were over 1700 cases in North America of illnesses related to drinking unpasteurized juice and ciders. The pathogens related to these food-borne illnesses included parasites, bacteria, and viruses. The most common pathogens were and 0111,
Salmonella,
Cryptosporidium,
Clostridium botulinum, and
hepatitis A. Pathogens can be spread in a number of ways, such as contamination where the fruit is grown, being carried in contaminated containers, or due to poor handling and washing.
Composition and nutrition
Apple juice is 88% water and 11%
(including 10% sugars), with negligible content of protein or
fat.
A 100 ml reference amount of unsweetened apple juice supplies 46
and no significant content of any
.
[
]
Storage
Fresh apple juice requires refrigeration. Sealed bottles of Canning apple juice can be stored in a dark, cool place, such as a pantry or cupboard, to delay the degradation of the product.
Once the juice package is opened, or if it was not sealed and shipped without needing refrigeration by the manufacturer, it must be resealed tightly and refrigerated to avoid contamination from microorganisms such as bacteria.
Apple cider
While apple juice generally refers to the filtered, pasteurised product of apple pressing, an unfiltered and sometimes unpasteurized version of the juice is commonly known as "apple cider" in the United States and parts of Canada. Seeking to capitalize on this, some makers of filtered and clarified juice (including carbonated varieties) label and sell their product as "apple cider." Legal distinctions are not universal and elusive to apply.[ What's the difference between apple juice and apple cider? , The Straight Dope. Retrieved 2008-02-20.]
Elsewhere in the world, particularly in New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom, the simple term cider refers to fermented fruit juice, usually made from apples but also from pears; this alcoholic beverage is known as hard cider in much of North America.
See also
External links
