Among citrus juice, orange is by far the most important. Lemon, lime, grapefruit and tangerines are also processed as juice.
One of the characteristics of citrus juice is that it is to be consumed mainly as a cloudy drink.
The most important quality requirements of fresh citrus for the manufacture of juice are content of solids, a sugar-acid ratio appropriate to the kind of citrus and color.
Thus, not all varieties are equally suitable for juice-making and not all growing areas are equally suited for their production.
Although the biggest percentage of that juice is made of diluted first extraction juice that does not require enzyme treatment most of the time, there is an appreciable production of by-product that are made from pulp and the peels, and these are marketed either as second quality juice or as natural cloudifiers.
After processing, the composition and quality of the citrus juices is affected strongly by the expression and finishing conditions, namely mechanical pressure shear and residence time.
Its color is caused by anthocyanins, their glucosides and condensation products, its taste by acids, sugars and phenolics and its aroma by a diverse mixture of volatile secondary metabolites in very low concentrations.
Citrus juice can be blend with other juices, or added spices or sugar prior to heating to make a beverage to meet local preferences in taste.
Citrus Juice
