Carrot Concentrate
Carrot concentrate is the concentrated juice or purée of Daucus carota subspecies sativus, produced by extracting the root, removing water under vacuum and standardising the result to a fixed soluble solids level, commonly around 60 to 65 degrees Brix for juice concentrate.
Two things distinguish it from fruit concentrates. The first is pH. Carrot juice sits near neutral, generally between 6.0 and 6.4, which places it in the low acid range where Clostridium botulinum can grow, so preservation depends on either full sterilisation, acidification or refrigeration rather than on acidity alone. The second is the carotenoid content. Carrot carries alpha and beta carotene at high concentration in chromoplasts within the root tissue, and these are fat soluble crystalline pigments rather than water soluble ones, so they are carried in the product as a fine dispersion and are released efficiently only when the tissue is heated and disrupted. They are also the reason the concentrate is bought, whether as a nutrient source, a flavour or an orange colour.
Three forms are traded, a clarified juice concentrate, a cloudy juice concentrate and a concentrated purée, all in drums, pails and aseptic bags, held chilled or frozen. Carotenoids oxidise and fade on exposure to air, heat and light, so packs are filled with minimal headspace and stored cold and dark.
We source bulk Carrot Concentrate from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Hebei. 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 | Viscous liquid, clear or uniformly opaque according to grade, free from grit and foreign matter |
| Colour | Bright orange, matched to the retained colour standard |
| Flavour and odour | Characteristic cooked carrot, no earthy, fermented or scorched note |
| Total soluble solids | 60.0 degrees Brix minimum, juice concentrate |
| Total carotenoids | Declared per lot, expressed as beta carotene |
| pH | 5.8 to 6.4, unacidified grade |
| Acidity, as citric acid | Declared per lot |
| Nitrate | Declared per lot, within the limit agreed for infant food use |
| Lead | 0.05 mg/kg maximum |
| Commercial sterility, aseptic grade | Passes incubation test at 37 and 55 degrees Celsius |
| 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
The first division is between clarified juice concentrate, which is filtered bright and carries little pigment, cloudy juice concentrate, which retains the fine carotenoid bearing particulate and most of the colour, and purée concentrate, which keeps the full pulp and is the thickest and most deeply coloured of the three. Brix is specified within each, with juice concentrate commonly at 60 to 65 degrees and purée concentrate lower.
Colour value, measured as an absorbance or as total carotenoid content on a standardised dilution, is the grading criterion that matters most for buyers using the concentrate for its colour, and colour selected grades trade above general purpose material. Black carrot concentrate, made from anthocyanin rich purple varieties, is a separate product used for red and purple colour rather than orange and is not interchangeable with orange carrot concentrate. Further grading covers organic certified lots, acidified grades adjusted below pH 4.6 for ambient stability, and de-flavoured grades in which the earthy terpene notes have been reduced for use where only the colour is wanted.
Applications
- Vegetable and mixed vegetable juices, reconstituted and blended with tomato and other vegetable concentrates
- Fruit and vegetable juice blends, where carrot supplies colour, sweetness and a carotenoid claim
- Colouring foodstuff applications in beverages, dairy and confectionery, replacing an added orange colour on the label
- Infant and toddler purées and pouches, as one of the base vegetables of the category
- Soups, sauces and ready meals, dosed for body, sweetness and colour
- Baby cereal and weaning products, added to the wet mix before drying
- Bakery goods and cake batters using vegetable purée for moisture and colour
- Smoothies and wellness shots specified on beta carotene content
- Pet food and nutrition products where a natural carotenoid source is required
- Black carrot grades used as a red to purple colouring foodstuff in confectionery and drinks
Brands Using Carrot Concentrate
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Carrot Concentrate on the ingredient label.
Brand names, product names and logos are the property of their owners. They appear here as published evidence that the ingredient is used, taken from the brand's own label or website. Their appearance is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the brand buys from us or from any manufacturer listed on this site.
China Manufacturers of Carrot Concentrate
Top Carrot 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
Carrot concentrate is a food rather than a food additive, so no E number applies to the concentrate itself. Regulation 852/2004 and the general food law govern manufacture in the European Union, and the preventive controls rules at 21 CFR Part 117 govern it in the United States. Because carrot juice is a low acid food, the control of Clostridium botulinum is the defining regulatory issue: shelf stable carrot products packed in hermetically sealed containers in the United States fall under the low acid canned food requirements of 21 CFR Parts 108 and 113, requiring establishment registration and a filed scheduled process, while refrigerated and acidified routes are documented as validated preventive controls. Vegetable juice in the United States is also covered by the juice hazard analysis regulation at 21 CFR Part 120.
Where the concentrate is used to colour another food, its classification has to be settled. In the European Union a concentrate that has not been selectively extracted for its pigment is treated as a colouring foodstuff and stays outside Regulation 1333/2008, while selective extraction moves it into the additive framework, the reference point being the Commission guidance on that distinction; carotenes extracted as such are authorised colours under E160a and black carrot anthocyanins are assessed against E163. In the United States vegetable juice used for colouring is a colour additive exempt from certification, and 21 CFR 73.260 lists it, with dehydrated beets and carrot oil listed separately; it must be declared appropriately on the label. Regulation 396/2005 controls pesticide residues in the European Union, and tolerances at 40 CFR Part 180 control them in the United States.
Manufacturing Process
Carrots are received, destoned and washed thoroughly, since the root grows in soil and grit is both a quality and an equipment problem. They are trimmed of crown and tip, sorted, and in some plants peeled by steam or abrasion. The roots are cut and then blanched or steam heated, which inactivates peroxidase and pectin degrading enzymes, softens the tissue and, importantly for colour yield, disrupts the chromoplasts so the carotenoids are released. The heated material is milled to a mash and treated with pectinase and cellulase, which break down the cell wall and raise the yield of both juice and pigment.
Juice is separated by decanter centrifuge or belt press. For clarified grades it is further treated with enzyme, fined and filtered, while cloudy grades are only screened and centrifuged lightly and are then homogenised to stabilise the suspension. Purée grades skip the pressing step and go through a pulper and finisher instead. Water is removed in a falling film evaporator under vacuum for juice, or in a forced circulation or scraped surface evaporator for purée, at the lowest practical temperature to protect the carotenoids. The concentrate is standardised for Brix and colour, then sterilised in a tubular or scraped surface heat exchanger and filled aseptically, or filled and frozen. Because the material is low acid, the thermal process is designed against spore forming organisms unless the product is acidified or is to be held frozen.
