Direct juice
Not-from-concentrate juice (also called mother juice ) is a type of fruit juice that is filtered after pressing and pressing and ideally bottled immediately. If filling is not possible immediately, the juice is stored sterile in large tanks, later heated and bottled. Processing to concentrate and later redilution is not necessary with not-from- concentrate juices. Juices that are directly edible and tasty are referred to as not-from-concentrate juices, e.g. B. orange juice or apple juice. As a fruit nut juice , however juices refer to operations where there is an existing 100% fruit juice, which can be kelter fresh or filtered, but is distinguished by a high natural acidity, it that without the addition of water and sugar barely edible is. It is often the basis for fruit nectar. Well-known examples of the use of fruit juice are: currant nectar, which has a fruit juice content of at least 25% and to which water and sugar are added, as well as sour cherry nectar with a fruit juice content of at least 50%.
Difference from other juices
Fruit juices are usually thickened to a concentrate after pressing : the main component, water , is extracted from the fruit juice as gently as possible, and volatile aromatic substances are separated off. The orange juice obtained in this way , for example, is traded worldwide under the name FCOJ ( frozen concentrated orange juice ).
If the place of production and the point of sale are far apart, the effort of concentration enables weight and transport cost savings. At the destination, fruit juice concentrates are diluted back to their original water content with treated drinking water. Depending on the ratio of concentrate to water, 100% "juice" or a "fruit nectar" with up to 94% water is created. Flavors and, if necessary, vitamins are added and the drink is bottled.
By blending or mixing different concentrates with different fruit acid contents and sweetnesses, it is possible to obtain a consistent taste in the end product. Natural fluctuations in color and taste can be largely compensated for.
Origin of the term
The fruit juice concentration with subsequent redilution, which has been common for a long time, has only recently been noticed more and more by consumers. Since the concentrals are highly heated (pasteurized) before they are thickened in order to reliably kill any germs, flavor carriers and nutrients such as the heat-sensitive vitamin C suffer. Flavors are separated out and returned during the re-dilution. In order to differentiate mother juices from rediluted concentrates, the term “not-from-concentrate” has become established, which makes it clear that a fruit juice was bottled directly after it was pressed. However, not-from-concentrate juice is also pasteurized .
Legal position
The term “not-from-concentrate” is not defined by the regulation on fruit juice, some similar products and fruit nectar . It is used by manufacturers as a quality feature to differentiate not-from-concentrate juice from fruit juices made from concentrate (which must be labeled with “Made from concentrate”).
Web links
- Juices: definition, production, products on naturkost.de
- Fruit juices - An overview on the DLG website
- Not-from-concentrate juice is often no better than concentrate on the NDR website
- Direct juice and fruit juice from fruit juice concentrate on the website of the Association of the German Fruit Juice Industry eV (VdF)
literature
- Patricia Davis, Marika Miklautsch, Sabine Dietrich: 300 questions about child nutrition . Gräfe und Unzer, 2009, p. 151 f. ( online )