PROCESSING EFFECTS DURING COMMERCIAL DEBITTERING OF CALIFORNIA NAVEL ORANGE JUICE

The advent of commercial debittering of citrus juices in the United States has resulted in concern regarding the compositional and nutritional changes that occur with the use of adsorbents. Such a commercial system was recently built by Dow Chemical at California Citrus Producers, Inc., Lindsay, CA. Treated and untreated lots of California Washington navel orange concentrate were analyzed by four professional laboratories and the laboratories at CCPI for 27 general citrus juice components (including those required for nutritional labeling), 10 minerals, and 20 amino acids. Significant changes included a reduction of limonin, the bitter component of citrus juices and the object of the debittering, and a reduction in essential oils and pulp that can be replenished without violation of the standards of identity for frozen concentrated orange juice or concentrated orange juice for manufacturing. Mineral increases were found to result from the use of mineral-laden water in reconstituting navel concentrate prior to treatment and not from the use of the adsorbent itself. © 1990, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.