Physicochemical Properties of Cryoconcentrated Orange Juice

Cryoconcentration allows the production of a fruit juice concentrate with retention of the physicochemical properties found in the original fresh raw materials. The objective was to study the physicochemical properties of cryoconcentrated orange juice from a vacuum-assisted cryoconcentration process. The orange juice was frozen in a static freezer and transferred to a suction stage using a vacuum pump (80 kPa) at controlled temperature condition (20 °C). The suction process using the vacuum pump was performed until reaching approximately a concentration of solutes in the concentrate two times the fresh sample. The results show an evident advantage using the vacuum-assisted cryoconcentration technique as compared to evaporation. Thus, in vitamin C from an initial value of around 74 mg/100 ml, the cryoconcentrate and the evaporated sample reached 198 and 124 mg/100 ml, respectively. The vacuum-assisted cryoconcentration is an effective technique to obtain an orange fruit juice concentrated with an important retention of the original physicochemical properties of the fresh juice.