Concentrated Cherry Juice
Concentrated cherry juice is pressed cherry juice with the water removed under vacuum and the result standardised to a fixed soluble solids level, most commonly around 68 degrees Brix, and it is traded in two distinct forms according to whether the fruit is sour cherry or sweet cherry.
Sour cherry, Prunus cerasus, of which the Montmorency and Balaton types dominate the trade, gives a concentrate high in malic acid with a sharp flavour and a deep red colour, and it is the material behind most functional cherry products. Sweet cherry, Prunus avium, gives a milder, sweeter and darker concentrate used mainly for flavour and colour in blends. In both, the colour comes from anthocyanins, chiefly cyanidin glycosides, which are stable in the red flavylium form at the low pH of the juice and degrade with heat, light and oxygen, so the process is designed around limiting thermal load. Sour cherry is also notable for a naturally occurring melatonin content, which is the basis of much of the marketing in the sports and sleep categories, and for a phenolic profile that is measured and specified by functional buyers.
The concentrate is a dense dark red liquid shipped in drums, pails and aseptic bags, held frozen or chilled. Its own low water activity makes it microbiologically stable, and colour loss in storage is the property that actually determines useful shelf life.
We source bulk Concentrated Cherry Juice from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Hebei. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
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- Function
- Beverage ingredient
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Dense viscous liquid, clear on reconstitution for clear grade |
| Colour | Deep red, matched to the retained colour standard |
| Flavour and odour | Characteristic cherry, no cooked, fermented, almond or oxidised note |
| Total soluble solids | 68.0 degrees Brix minimum at 20 degrees Celsius |
| Acidity, as malic acid | 4.0 to 8.0 percent on concentrate, sour cherry grade |
| pH | 3.0 to 3.6 |
| Total anthocyanins | Declared per lot, expressed as cyanidin 3 glucoside |
| Hydrogen cyanide | Not detected at the method limit of quantification |
| Clarity on reconstitution | No haze or sediment after 24 hours at 20 degrees Celsius |
| 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
Fruit type is the first grade line, sour and sweet cherry concentrate being priced and specified separately and not interchangeable. Within sour cherry, variety is specified where a functional claim depends on it, since the phenolic and melatonin content differs between Montmorency and Balaton material.
Clarity gives the second division: clear concentrate, depectinised and filtered so that no haze forms on reconstitution, and cloudy concentrate, depectinised but not clarified, which retains more colour and body. Brix is quoted at 68 degrees as standard, with 65 degrees traded in some contracts, and acidity and the Brix to acid ratio are specified alongside. Further lines cover colour selected grades bought for their absorbance value, de-aromatised concentrate with the volatile fraction stripped and sold separately, organic certified material, and concentrate blended with apple or grape juice concentrate, which must be declared as a blend rather than sold as single fruit.
Applications
- Reconstituted cherry juice and juice blends, diluted back to the reference Brix of the fruit
- Tart cherry functional drinks and shots, specified on phenolic content for sports recovery and sleep positioning
- Nutritional supplements, syrups, capsules and gummies using cherry as the polyphenol source
- Yoghurt fruit preparations and dairy desserts, formulated at low pH so the anthocyanin colour holds
- Bakery fillings, pie fillings and fruit swirls, thickened with starch or pectin
- Jams, spreads and dessert sauces, cooked with sugar and pectin
- Confectionery, fruit chews and gummies, where the high solids reduce the water to be boiled off
- Ice cream, sorbet and frozen novelty ripples, contributing colour and depressing the freezing point
- Cocktail mixers, syrups and grenadine style products
- Meat glazes and savoury sauces, where the acidity and colour balance rich meat
Brands Using Concentrated Cherry Juice
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Concentrated Cherry Juice on the ingredient label.
- CheribundiPure Concentrate Pouch 2.5 oz ↗Single-serve pouch whose ingredient list reads tart cherry juice and tart cherry juice concentrate.Label verified 2026-08-31
- CheribundiPure Tart Cherry Gummies ↗Gummy listing Cheribundi tart cherry juice concentrate as its first ingredient, ahead of tapioca syrup and cane sugar.Label verified 2026-08-31
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 Concentrated Cherry Juice
Top Concentrated Cherry Juice 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
Concentrated cherry juice is a food rather than a food additive and carries no E number. In the European Union concentrated fruit juice is a defined product under Directive 2001/112/EC as amended, which lists the permitted treatments, requires the reconstituted juice to return to the reference Brix set for cherry and prohibits the addition of sugars to anything sold as juice or concentrated juice. Regulation 852/2004 and the general food law govern manufacture. In the United States the concentrate is a conventional food made under the preventive controls rules at 21 CFR Part 117, reconstituted juice sold as juice falls under the juice hazard analysis regulation at 21 CFR Part 120, and percentage juice declaration follows 21 CFR 101.30.
Two points are specific to this fruit. Cherry stones contain amygdalin, which releases hydrogen cyanide. Intact stones are removed at destoning, but damaged or crushed stones can transfer it to the juice, so hydrogen cyanide is controlled by process design and verified analytically. The European Union has set maximum levels for hydrogen cyanide in certain foods, and the European Food Safety Authority has assessed cyanogenic glycosides in food. The second point is health claims. Functional cherry products are frequently sold on sleep and recovery positioning, and any such claim in the European Union must be an authorised claim under Regulation 1924/2006, while in the United States structure and function claims carry their own notification and disclaimer requirements, so the claim language rather than the concentrate itself is where the regulatory risk sits. Regulation 396/2005 and the tolerances at 40 CFR Part 180 control pesticide residues.
Manufacturing Process
Cherries arrive fresh or frozen, and sour cherry is very often received frozen since the harvest window is short and the fruit is too soft to hold. Fruit is cleaned of stems, leaves and unsound berries and destoned, which matters both for quality and because cherry stones carry amygdalin, a cyanogenic glycoside, so stones are removed intact rather than crushed. The destoned fruit is milled to a mash, warmed and treated with pectinase, which degrades the cell wall pectin, raises press yield and releases the skin anthocyanins into the liquid phase.
The mash is pressed on a belt or horizontal press and the pomace is usually washed with water and pressed a second time. Raw juice is given a further enzyme treatment until it passes a negative pectin and starch test, then fined and filtered, through sheets and diatomaceous earth in older plants and through ultrafiltration membranes in newer ones, for the clear grade; cloudy grades are only centrifuged and screened. Aroma is stripped at the front of the evaporator and recovered as an essence. Water is removed in a multi effect falling film evaporator under vacuum, at low temperature and short residence time so that pigment survives, until the juice reaches the target Brix. The concentrate is standardised for Brix, acidity and colour, given a short pasteurisation, flash cooled and filled into drums, pails or aseptic bags for cold storage.
