Kinetics of ice crystallization in sugar solutions and fruit juices

Abstract

Abstract Ice‐crystal secondary nucleation kinetics are derived from thermal response experiments carried out with concentrated sugar solutions and fruit juices. Variables studied include the level of supersaturation, power input, sugar concentration, sugar type, and the presence of high‐molecular‐weight additives. The nucleation rate is indicated to have a low‐order dependence upon subcooling (about 1.25 power) for subcoolings in the range 0.25 to 1.00°C. Fruit juices are well modeled by the corresponding synthetic sugar solution. The selection and improvement of processing approaches for freeze concentration of food liquids are discussed in light of the experimental results.