In India, clear guava juice is prepared from the white-fleshed ‘Allahabad’ variety according to the following steps: washed and trimmed fruits are blanching for 3 – 5 min to inactivate the oxidative enzymes prior to pulping; after blanching, the fruit is passed once through a screw press fitted with a coarse sieve of 20 – 30 mesh; and the residue is passed through again for maximum recovery of the pulp.
Two types of cloudy guava juice are prepared in India: one product contains 55 – 60% pulp, and the other consists of 85% pulp. The soluble solid content of the guava pulp is around 13 – 14 Brix, and the acidity is 0.20 – 0.25%. The pulp, citric acid and 70 Brix syrup are heated and blended, yielding a final 15 Brix and 0.20 – 0.30% acidity.
Ascorbic acid is added at the rate of 0.01%. The prepared product is poured hot into bottles, capped and processed in boiling water for 25 minutes followed by cooling to ambient temperature. Guava juice is further processed and utilized in the form of concentrates, beverages, jellies, powders and other products.
Guava juice can be concentrated to five times its original content of total soluble solids. But the color of the juice changes to brown because of browning. Guava juice concentrate has been found to be suitable for drying onto guava juice powder and ready to serve beverage.
Guava Juice Processing in India
