As the clear juice appearance is a determinant factor for consumers, the fruit juice industry has been investing in methods that optimize this feature.
Clarification is an important step in the processing of fruit juice mainly in order to remove pectin and other carbohydrates which are present in the juice.
Fruit and vegetable juices are clarified by using different methods such as:
*Settling: the process by which particulates settle to the bottom of a liquid and form a sediment.
*Straining or screening: Separate solids from fluids by adding a medium though which only the fluid can pass.
*Finishing: The finisher separates the pulpy matter from the juice by the action of a rotating auger inside a cylinder screen. Screen hole size range from approximately 0.020 to 0.030 inch in diameter, depending on the condition and softness of the fruit. Finishing is judged by the pulp content in the orange fruit juice.
*Decantation
*Centrifugation
*Physical finings – using fining agents
*Chemical finings
*Clarification by freezing: Is a phase transition on which a liquid turns onto a solid when its temperature is lowered below its freezing point.
*Clarification by heating: The juice is heated at 82 °C for about a minute when the colloidal material coagulates and settle down.
*Addition of sugars
Clarification of juice
