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You must have read the backside of your fruit carton that says, “made from concentrate”. Didn’t the phrase make you wonder about what it could mean? Not, only you many people come across the same question and doubt if the juice they consume is healthy or not. Well, in this article, we shall discuss concentrate and its health properties.
Define concentrate
The concentrate can be termed as a substance form whose base component has been removed. In cases of fruit and vegetable juices, a component refers to the excess water, which has been deliberately removed or extracted from the juice.
As a result, these highly concentrated products get longer shelf lives. Also, the juices extracted from the fruits and veggies are thicker and after the concentration process, the outcome is light which is easier to digest as well as more economical to ship. These concentrated products can also be stocked for a long time.
How is Juice concentrated?
In today’s time, juices are concentrated through an artificial process using a machine called the T.A.S.T.E.
The process by which this machine works :
- First of all the juice needs to be heated through steaming.
- Then using the evaporation method and pressure, the excess water is separated from the juice.
- Then the remaining juice-extract needs flash-cooling.
- If the manufacturers want, then they can apply water to the concentrate after the extract is pasteurized and packet. That will not affect the final product to any extent.
Which type of juice has longer shelf lives?
The concentrated juice form tends to last longer because the concentrated can be preserved by storing in the freezer for more than a year or two. The fresh juices tend to rot first because of the excess water quotient in them.
The fruits or veggies arriving at the plant are washed, peeled, and then dropped into the machine. The machine then extracts the juice out of the fruit or vegetable and sends it to the evaporator and then to the pasteurizer.
This process is applied in the case of producing concentrated juice. To produce non-concentrated juice, the waw juice would be sent directly to the pasteurizer which would kill the bacteria and enzymes present in the juice which would extend the shelf life of the final extract.
A much higher quality and longer durable juice would go through another process known as flash pasteurization. Flash pasteurization increases the shelf life of the product to double time the non- concentrated product.
So, if you remain in a doubt about how to define concentrate, then these processes would help you understand the process in an easy way.
