Caear Apple Juice Concentrate
Clear apple juice concentrate is depectinised, clarified and filtered apple juice from which water has been removed under vacuum to a fixed soluble solids level, most commonly 70 degrees Brix, and it is the largest single traded fruit juice concentrate in the world.
Chemically it is a concentrated solution of fructose, glucose and sucrose, with fructose dominant, together with malic acid, sorbitol, potassium and a small residue of polyphenols. Everything that makes juice cloudy, principally pectin, starch and protein bound polyphenol complexes, has been removed, so the product reconstitutes to a bright liquid with no haze and no sediment. Colour is measured instrumentally and light colour is priced above dark, because browning from oxidation and from the Maillard reaction during evaporation is the defect that cannot be reversed. The presence of sorbitol and of the characteristic sugar ratio makes apple concentrate one of the easier juices to authenticate.
It leaves the plant at 70 degrees Brix in drums, intermediate bulk containers, aseptic bags and road tankers, a heavy viscous liquid at ambient temperature. It is held cold to slow colour development, and because its water activity is very low it is microbiologically stable in itself, with the practical spoilage risk coming from dilution at the container surface rather than from the bulk.
We source bulk Caear Apple Juice Concentrate from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Henan. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
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- Function
- Beverage ingredient
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Clear viscous liquid, free from sediment and foreign matter |
| Colour | Light straw to pale amber, within the agreed transmission range |
| Flavour and odour | Characteristic apple, no cooked, fermented or musty note |
| Total soluble solids | 70.0 degrees Brix minimum at 20 degrees Celsius |
| Acidity, as malic acid | 1.5 to 3.0 percent on concentrate |
| pH | 3.2 to 4.0 |
| Clarity on reconstitution | No haze or sediment after 24 hours at 20 degrees Celsius |
| Pectin and starch | Negative to alcohol and iodine test |
| Patulin | Within the limit of the destination market, tested each lot |
| Lead | 0.05 mg/kg maximum |
| Total plate count | 100 cfu/g maximum |
| Yeast and mould | 10 cfu/g maximum |
| Escherichia coli | Negative in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Negative in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
Colour is the principal grading criterion for clear apple concentrate, expressed as a transmission or absorbance value on a standardised dilution, with extra light, light and standard grades traded at different prices for the same Brix. Brix itself is effectively fixed at 70 degrees for the standard trade, with 50 degrees Brix material offered where a customer wants a less viscous handling form.
Beyond colour, the trade distinguishes aromatised concentrate, to which the recovered aroma fraction has been added back, from de-aromatised concentrate sold without it, the aroma then being traded separately as an essence. De-acidified concentrate, passed over anion exchange resin to lower the malic acid content, and de-ionised or de-flavoured concentrate, stripped of acid, colour and flavour to leave essentially a fruit sourced sugar syrup, are separate commercial products made on the same plant. Cloudy apple concentrate, which retains the natural cloud and is stabilised rather than clarified, is a distinct grade rather than a variant of clear. Organic certified material is segregated through the whole line, and patulin controlled grades produced to a tighter limit are specified for infant food use.
Applications
- Reconstituted apple juice, diluted back to the reference Brix of the fruit and filled chilled or aseptically
- Multi fruit juice blends, where apple is the base that carries more expensive fruit
- Juice drinks, nectars and flavoured waters, dosed to support a percentage juice declaration
- Cider and fruit wine production, fermented after dilution
- Infant and toddler drinks, specified to a tighter patulin limit than general trade material
- Jams, fruit preparations and bakery fillings, contributing soluble solids and acidity
- Confectionery and fruit snacks, used as a fruit sourced sweetener in place of added sugar
- Breakfast cereals, bars and granola binders, where a clean sweet syrup is required
- De-ionised grades used purely as a sweetening ingredient where a no added sugar declaration is intended
- Vinegar and fermented beverage production, as the fermentable carbohydrate source
China Manufacturers of Caear Apple Juice Concentrate
Top Caear Apple Juice Concentrate manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the European Union concentrated fruit juice is a defined product under Directive 2001/112/EC as amended, which lists the treatments permitted, requires the reconstituted juice to return to the reference Brix set for apple, and prohibits the addition of sugars to any product sold as juice or concentrated juice. The permitted processing aids, including the fining agents and the enzymes, are used under the general food law and the processing aid rules, and the enzymes themselves are subject to Regulation 1332/2008 on food enzymes. Regulation 852/2004 governs manufacture.
In the United States apple juice concentrate is a conventional food produced under the preventive controls rules at 21 CFR Part 117, and reconstituted juice sold as such falls under the juice hazard analysis regulation at 21 CFR Part 120, which requires a validated five log reduction of the relevant pathogen, Escherichia coli O157:H7 in the case of apple juice. Percentage juice declaration follows 21 CFR 101.30. Patulin is the defining contaminant of the commodity, with maximum levels for apple juice and apple juice ingredients set in Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915, including a stricter level for products intended for infants and young children, and with an action level applied by the Food and Drug Administration to apple juice and apple juice products. Authenticity testing against the reference values published by the industry associations, covering sugar profile, sorbitol, malic acid and stable isotope ratios, is a normal condition of purchase because apple concentrate is a frequent target for adulteration.
Manufacturing Process
Apples are tipped into a flume, washed and sorted, and rotten fruit is rejected, which is the single most important step for patulin control since the toxin is produced in mouldy tissue and survives processing. Sound fruit is milled to a mash, which is dosed with pectinase and in some plants with a mash enzyme system that improves yield, then pressed on a belt press, horizontal press or decanter. Pomace is usually washed with water and pressed again, and the second juice is combined with the first.
Raw juice is heated briefly to inactivate enzymes and precipitate protein, then given a further enzyme treatment with pectinase and amylase until it passes a negative pectin and starch test. It is fined with gelatine, silica sol or bentonite, decanted, and filtered, traditionally through diatomaceous earth and increasingly through ultrafiltration membranes. Where patulin is above the target, the juice is passed over activated carbon or a resin, which reduces it, and colour and bitterness can be corrected on the same equipment. Aroma is stripped from the juice at the front of the evaporator and recovered in a rectification column as an aroma essence. Water is then removed in a multi effect falling film evaporator under vacuum at low temperature and short residence time, which limits browning, until the juice reaches 70 degrees Brix. The concentrate is cooled, standardised for Brix and colour, checked for patulin, and filled into aseptic bags, drums or tankers for cold storage.
