Lemon Juice
Lemon juice is the juice expressed from the fruit of Citrus limon, traded both as a beverage ingredient and as a natural acidulant, since its acid load rather than its sugar content is what most formulations buy it for.
Single strength lemon juice contains roughly 4.5 to 6 percent citric acid with a smaller malic acid fraction, sits at a pH near 2.2 to 2.6, and carries only 7 to 9 degrees Brix of soluble solids. That combination makes it one of the strongest natural acidifiers available in food, capable of dropping the pH of a batch far enough to bring it into the acidified food range and to suppress bacterial growth. It also contributes ascorbic acid, potassium, and the flavanone eriocitrin.
The aroma comes almost entirely from the peel oil that is carried across during extraction, dominated by limonene, citral and beta pinene. Citral is chemically unstable in acid conditions and degrades to off notes over shelf life, which is the single largest quality constraint on the product. Lemon juice trades clear or cloudy, chilled, aseptic, frozen, or as a 400 gram per litre acid concentrate.
We source bulk Lemon Juice from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Fujian. 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 | Pale yellow liquid, clear or cloudy per grade |
| Flavour and Odour | Characteristic fresh lemon, free from oxidised or terpene off notes |
| Brix at 20 degrees C | 7.0 to 9.0 for single strength |
| Citric Acid | 4.5 to 6.0 percent by weight |
| pH | 2.2 to 2.6 |
| Peel Oil | Not more than 0.03 percent by volume |
| Pulp Content | Not more than 2 percent for clarified grade |
| Sulphur Dioxide | Not detected unless declared as preserved grade |
| Lead | Not more than 0.03 mg per kg |
| Arsenic | Not more than 0.1 mg per kg |
| Total Plate Count | Not more than 100 cfu per mL |
| Yeast and Mould | Not more than 10 cfu per mL |
| E. coli | Absent in 100 mL |
| Salmonella | Absent in 250 mL |
Common Markets Grades
The traded grades are single strength juice, clarified juice for clear drinks, cloudy juice where turbidity is wanted, and concentrate quoted on acid content rather than Brix, typically 300 or 400 grams of citric acid per litre. A distinction is also made between juice with natural peel oil retained and stripped juice used where the citrus aroma would clash with the flavour system.
Buyers specify whether the material is preserved with sulphur dioxide, a long standing practice for bulk lemon juice held in ambient tanks, or sold preservative free as frozen or aseptic product. Further options include not from concentrate against reconstituted grades, organic certification, and a debittered grade processed through adsorbent resin for use where limonin bitterness would develop.
Applications
- Lemonade, still and carbonated lemon drinks, where the juice supplies both acid and flavour
- Acidulant in juice blends, teas and flavoured waters, adjusting pH without a synthetic acid declaration
- Cocktail mixers and sour mixes for bar and foodservice use
- Salad dressings, mayonnaise and cold sauces requiring acidity and preservation
- Marinades and seafood preparations, where the acid firms protein and cuts oiliness
- Fruit preparations and pie fillings, controlling pH for pectin gelation
- Confectionery and sour candy coatings
- Bakery products and lemon flavoured creams and curds
- Preservation aid in fresh cut fruit and guacamole, limiting enzymatic browning
- Home style bottled lemon juice sold at retail as a cooking ingredient
Brands Using Lemon Juice
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Lemon Juice on the ingredient label.
- LakewoodOrganic Pure Lemon Juice 32oz ↗A single-ingredient bottled juice pressed from organic lemons, not from concentrate.Label verified 2026-08-31
- LakewoodOrganic Pure Beet Juice 32oz ↗A two-ingredient juice of organic beetroot juice and organic lemon juice, where the lemon juice carries the acidity of the blend.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Chosen FoodsBurger Sauce 9 fl oz ↗An avocado oil based condiment that lists lemon juice concentrate in its ingredient statement.Label verified 2026-08-31
- OlipopGinger Lemon ↗A canned prebiotic soda whose product copy names lemon juice as the source of its tart character alongside ginger.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Harney & SonsButterfly Lemonade ↗A bottled brewed infusion whose ingredient list names organic lemon juice concentrate with butterfly pea flower 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 Lemon Juice
Top Lemon 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
In the United States lemon juice is a conventional food. Labelling and juice percentage declaration follow 21 CFR 101 and 21 CFR 102.33, and juice processors operate under the HACCP requirements of 21 CFR 120. Where lemon juice is used as an acidulant in a shelf stable product, the acidified foods regulation in 21 CFR 114 governs the process and its filing. Sulphur dioxide used as a preservative in bulk juice is permitted but must be declared, and levels at or above 10 mg per kg trigger an allergen style label declaration.
In the European Union Directive 2001/112/EC, as amended through Directive 2012/12/EU, covers lemon juice and sets its minimum Brix and permitted treatments, and Regulation 1333/2008 separately recognises lemon juice concentrate as an ingredient permitted for acidity regulation in a range of foods. Sulphite use and declaration follow Regulation 1333/2008 and the allergen labelling rules in Regulation 1169/2011. Codex standard CXS 247-2005 gives the international composition reference.
Manufacturing Process
Lemons are washed, graded and fed to inline extractors or rotary reamers. Extractor settings are a compromise: harder squeezing raises yield but drives more peel oil and more of the bitter limonoid precursors into the juice. The raw juice passes to a finisher that removes seed, membrane and coarse pulp, and the recovered peel oil is separated in a two stage centrifuge for sale as a by product.
The finished juice is screened and, for clear grades, given a pectinase treatment followed by centrifugation and filtration; cloudy grades take a short pasteurisation instead, to inactivate pectinesterase and hold the cloud in suspension. Debittering, where required, passes the juice over a styrene divinylbenzene adsorbent resin that binds limonin and naringin. The juice is deaerated, pasteurised at around 90 degrees Celsius for a short hold, and then chilled, frozen, or filled aseptically. Concentrate grades are evaporated under vacuum at low temperature to a defined acid strength, with aroma recovered and stored separately for add back.
