EFFECT OF SOLUBLE SOLIDS AND TEMPERATURE ON ASCORBIC ACID DEGRADATION IN LEMON JUICE STORED IN GLASS BOTTLES

Abstract

ABSTRACT Lemon juice at concentrations of 9°, 20°, 30°, 40° and 50°Brix was stored at 10°, 20° and 36°C for 16 weeks and sampled regularly for total soluble solids (TSS), pH, titratable acidity and ascorbic acid. No significant differences were found in the first two of these factors as a function of storage time. There was a small but significant decrease in citric acid concentration over 16 weeks. Ascorbic acid loss was greater at higher temperatures; at a constant temperature, the loss was smaller as TSS increased. Ascorbic acid degradation data fitted zero‐, first‐ and second‐order models equally well at all five TSS. Rate constants in 9°Brix juice were significantly higher than those for the other four concentrations at all three temperatures. E a values of 47.8 and 24.1 kJ mol −1 were calculated for ascorbic acid degradation in 9° and 20°Brix juices. The effect of temperature far outweighed the effect of TSS on ascorbic acid degradation. Over the 16‐week storage period, maximum retention of ascorbic acid (95.7%) was obtained in the 50°Brix lemon juice concentrate stored at 10°C.