Methods for Concentration of Fruit Juices : A Critical Evaluation

Abstract

<p align="justify">Concentration of fruit juices, a major unit operation in fruit processing industry, is of critical importance as it determines the quality of the final product. Few commercially feasible methods include vacuum evaporation, freeze - concentration and membrane processes such as osmosis, reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration. Even though considerable developments have taken place in all these concentration methods, evaporation is still the most developed and widely followed method. With the numerous types of evaporators available today, the selection of suitable evaporator for individual fruit juice concentration is an important step. Different criteria such as heat sensitivity, fouling and viscosity, which aid in selection of evaporator, have been discussed. Aroma recovery has become an integral part of fruit juice concentration process. Various commercial aroma recovery equipments are described and the comparative evaluation of different concentration processes is delineated.</p>