Vegetable juice
According to the German food book, vegetable juice is the undiluted, fermentable and unfermented or lactic acid fermented liquid product made from vegetables intended for immediate consumption . Vegetable juice can then also be made from concentrate of vegetable juice or pulp. It is a drink for human consumption , a food .
The terms juice and nectar
The term vegetable juice describes the product with a 100 percent share of vegetables, vegetable nectar has at least a 40 percent share of vegetables (the rest is water), with rhubarb only at least 25%.
Special varieties
Other vegetables
- Root vegetables such as tuber vegetables (kohlrabi, celeriac, carrots, beetroot) and onion vegetables (garlic, leek)
- Leafy vegetables such as cabbage (white cabbage), stem vegetables (asparagus) or lettuce
- Fruit vegetables like cucumber and pumpkin
- but also legumes such as peas and beans as well as flowering vegetables such as artichoke and cauliflower
Manufacturing
Production in private households
In contrast to fruit juice , vegetable juice can often only be made with a juicer due to its firmer structure and lower water content . Wash the vegetables well before processing and cut them into large pieces, then chop them up in the juicer and collect the liquid. Since the ingredients are sensitive to heat, light and oxygen in the air, the juice should either be drunk immediately or frozen. Certain vegetables, such as beans containing lectin , are not edible raw and must be cooked before juicing.
Industrial manufacture
Vegetable juice is made from fresh or cold-preserved vegetables or parts thereof. The vegetables must be healthy, cleanly cleaned, washed and, if necessary, blanched. No more water should remain in the vegetables than is technically unavoidable.
The vegetables are chopped up, squeezed, centrifuged and filtered. It is then made durable by pasteurization and sterilization or a combination process. Technically required additives such as bentonite (as a fining agent), amylases and pectinases (to break down the cell walls during the pressing process), edible gelatine (to adjust the viscosity ), calcium carbonate , citric acid (up to a weight per thousand ) and vitamin C (for stabilization and preservation) are used and do not have to be declared.
Similar to fruit juice, a vegetable juice or vegetable pulp concentrate can be produced by thickening, which saves storage and transport costs. To produce the juice, the withdrawn amount of water is then added again; the water must be of at least drinking water quality. If necessary, the aroma of the vegetable juice is restored with the aid of the volatile aromatic substances which have been captured during the thickening of the vegetable juice in question. The thickening that has taken place in the meantime must be recognizable in the description of the juice, for example by stating: "from ... concentrate".
composition
As with all foodstuffs, the ingredients and additives used must be specified in the trade; the types of vegetables are listed in descending order according to their weight percentage. Permitted additives that are subject to declaration are salt , various types of sugar , vinegar , herbs and spices, lactic , tartaric , citric and malic acid and glutamic acid . The prescribed information on the package is "sugared", "salted" or the list in the list of ingredients .
In the case of vegetable nectar - in addition to the additives in vegetable juice - liquid sugar and various syrups are also permitted.
Additional content information relates to the nutritional value, fat and protein content and the content of phytochemicals . Vegetable juice contains many of the amino acids , vitamins , minerals and enzymes found in the respective vegetable . However, it contains less fiber and other solid components. Vegetable juices that have at least some of the solid ingredients added as a puree , so-called " smoothies " , are becoming increasingly popular .
The extensive removal of dietary fiber means that large amounts of vitamins can be absorbed relatively quickly, for example the β-carotene in carrot juice - consuming the unprocessed amount of vegetables would take much longer. The excessive intake of β-carotene can lead to a reversible yellowing of the skin that does not require treatment (carotenemia, carotinodermia); however, this symptom can occur when eating fruit and vegetables in any case. There is no risk of a (much more dangerous) vitamin A overdose.
In lactic acid fermented juices, the sugar components are partially broken down into lactic acid . The process changes the taste of the drink and lowers the pH . This also has a positive effect on durability . Vegetable juice fermented with lactic acid contains at least 2.5 g / l total lactic acid.
According to food regulations, both fermented and unfermented vegetable juices may contain up to 3.0 g of alcohol per liter of finished juice.
consumption
Freshly squeezed vegetable and fruit juices, compiled according to the wishes of the customer, are offered in juice bars in markets, in shopping centers and at train stations.
Lightly salted tomato juice is the most common vegetable drink in the catering of passenger aircraft.
According to the Association of the German Fruit Juice Industry (VdF), the most popular vegetable juices in Germany are made from tomatoes, carrots and beetroot.
According to information from the German Association of Non-Alcoholic Drinks, the consumption of vegetable juices / nectars in Germany (together) was almost constant in the years 2002 to 2004 at around 1.0 liters / head. For 2005 and 2006 it was around 1.35 liters / head. For comparison: the consumption of mineral and medicinal water was around 120 liters / person, the consumption of fruit juice was around 40 liters / person in the same period.
See also
literature
- Ulrich Schobinger: Fruit and vegetable juices . 1st edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1978, ISBN 3-8001-5821-3 (standard work).
Web links
- hr-online guidebook apartment & household: "Fit through juices, health that you can drink" ( Memento from July 6, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) Status: August 4, 2004
- Stiftung Warentest: "Tomato and carrot juices Red drinks in the green?" Test booklet 03/2000
- Naturkost.de Basics for vegetable juice , status 2000
Individual evidence
- ↑ Guidelines for vegetable juice and vegetable nectar, online , PDF, published by the German Food Book Commission in the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection.
- ↑ Food Labeling Ordinance LmKV.
- ^ Statement of the German Society for Nutrition eV on smoothies , DGEInfo 09/2007 - Research, Clinic and Practice.
- ^ Fritz Heepe, Maria Wigand: Lexicon Dietetic Indications. Special nutritional therapy and nutritional prevention . Springer, 2002, ISBN 3-540-42441-5 , pp. 199 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
- ↑ Right? Tomato in flight. In: The time. Issue 52, December 17, 2003.
- ↑ Internet presence of the Association of the German Fruit Juice Industry e. V. , read April 4, 2008.
- ↑ Internet presence of the non- alcoholic drinks association ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 19 kB), read April 4, 2008.
- ↑ German Society for Nutrition e. V., statement "Fruit and vegetables in the prevention of chronic diseases" (PDF; 302 kB) from September 2007.
