PROCESSING

Raw materials:
 The main component is mandarin and a number of natural materials that
contribute to the overall flavor and consistency of the juice including water,
sugars (primarily sucrose, fructose, and glucose), organic acids (primarily
citric, malic, and tartaric), and flavor compounds (including various esters,
alcohols, ketones, lactones, and hydrocarbons.)

 Other additives:
- Preservatives such as sulfur dioxide or sodium benzoate
- Similarly, ascorbic acid, alpha tocopherol, EDTA, BHA, or BHT are used as
antioxidants.
- Sweeteners may be added in the form of corn syrup, dextrose.
- Citric acid is added to provide tartness.
- Manufacturers may also supplement such as vitamin C, and less commonly, vitamins
A and E, and beta carotene.

1. Mandarin reception:
– After receiving material, the fruit may undergo initial washing to remove dust,
dirt and pesticide residues.
– The fruit then moves on to destemming and pregrading.
– The roller conveyor of the destemming and pregrading tables allows any
leaves or twigs to fall through the conveyor bed.
– Pregrading by manual inspection removes rotten and visibly damaged fruit.
 Sampling:

– A sample of fruit is taken from each truck for analysis.

This gives the processor an indication of fruit ripeness. As the fruit goes
into bin storage, each load can be tagged and identified. It is then possible to
select suitable fruit from various sources for blending during the extraction
process to achieve the desired final product quality. The measured juice yield
may also form the basis for payment to the fruit suppliers.
2. Washing and grading:
 Final washing :
– The fruit is thoroughly washed immediately prior to the extraction process.
– The wash water may include a mild disinfectant to help reduce microbial
presence on the fruit surface.
– Fresh water or condensate recovered from the evaporators is used for
final washing.
– Should use NaClO (0.9%) in this step.
 Final grading :
 To final visual inspection to remove damaged or unsuitable fruit.
 Sizing:

– After grading, the fruit passes over the sizing table, which divides the fruit into
different streams according to fruit diameter.
– As the gap increases, larger fruit will pass through the rollers onto extractors
set for their defined size range.
Problem: why do we need to sizing before extracting ?
– In this way, all the fruit is selected to suit the individual settings of the
extractors. If the fruit is too small, it will be over-squeezed and excessive rag and
peel will get into the juice with resulting bitterness. If the fruit is under-squeezed,
insufficient yield will result.

3. Extraction:
– The aim of the juice extraction process is to obtain as much juice from the
fruit as possible while preventing rag, oil and other fruit components from
entering the juice. There are two automated extraction methods commonly
used by the industry: the squeezer extractor and the reamer extractor.

 The first places the fruit between two metal cups with sharpened metal
tubes at their base. The upper cup descends and the fingers on each
cup mesh to express the juice as the tubes cut holes in the top and
bottom of the fruit. The fruit solids are compressed into the bottom tube
between the two plugs of peel while the juice is forced out through
perforations in the tube wall. At the same time, a water spray washes
away the oil from the peel. This oil is reclaimed for later use.
 The second type of extraction has the oranges cut in half before the
juice is removed. The fruits are sliced as they pass by a stationary knife
and the halves are then picked up by rubber suction cups and moved
against plastic serrated reamers. The rotating reamers express the
juice as the orange halves travel around the conveyor line.
4. Filtration:
 The juice during extraction/squeezing is filtered because it contains too much fruit
pulp and white fibrous layer. Fruit juices from extractors usually contain about 20-
25% of the flesh that floats and sinks underneath.
Filtration helps the output to remove the pulp in the juice. A mill is essentially a
cylindrical filter cage and consists of two types: the screw type and the vane type.
Centrifugal filtration
The pulp content in the juice left on the second mill is usually around 12%. This
residue is mainly sunken fruit flesh. Juice may also contain seed fragments, core
fibers, and other undesirable high-density components. Centrifuges are used to
remove these bugs from the juice. Centrifugal filters are also used to reduce the
residue content to the level specified by the market for the final juice product.
5. Blending
After filtration, the juice usually goes through some degree of blending with juices
from other batches and add other additives to balance out flavor, color, acidity,
and Brix before further processing.

6. Pasteurization:
– In this step, degassing is part of the pasteurization process.
– Degassing is usually done by passing the product through a vacuum
chamber.
– It prevent oxygen destroy a mount of the available vitamin C by oxidation.
– It is carried out by passing the product through a vacuum chamber.

Pasteurization

– Pasteurization can remove spoilage organisms in mandarin juice and

7. Packaging/filling
To ensure sterility, the pasteurized juice should be filled while still hot. Where
possible, metal or glass bottles and cans can be preheated. Packaging which can
not withstand high temperatures (e.g., aseptic, multilayer plastic juice boxes which
don't require refrigeration) must be filled in a sterile environment. Instead of heat,
hydrogen peroxide or another approved sterilizing agent may be used prior to filling.
After filling, the containers are cooled as fast as possible ( below 38).

8. Storage:
Orange juice packaged in this manner has a shelf life of 6-8 months at room
temperature.