Mandarin Orange Sacs
Mandarin orange sacs are the individual juice vesicles of mandarin fruit, Citrus reticulata, separated intact from the segment membrane and packed in syrup or juice as a visible particulate for beverages and desserts.
Each sac is a spindle shaped fluid filled cell a few millimetres long, bounded by a thin wall and holding the juice of the fruit. In the whole fruit these cells are packed inside the segment and enclosed by a tough membrane, so the entire processing problem is removing that membrane without rupturing the cells. Recovered sacs behave as a suspended solid rather than as a soluble ingredient. They are close to neutrally buoyant in a sugared beverage, which is why they stay dispersed through a bottle instead of settling or creaming, and they release juice and a burst of mandarin aroma when chewed.
The material travels as a pumpable slurry of sacs in a light syrup or in mandarin juice, filled aseptically or held frozen or chilled. Sac integrity is the property that is bought and sold, so specifications quote intact sac percentage and sac length distribution, and handling systems use wide bore lines, low shear lobe pumps and gentle dosing to avoid breaking the cells into cloud.
We source bulk Mandarin Orange Sacs from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Zhejiang. 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.
or call +86-21-6858 0751
- Function
- Beverage ingredient
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Discrete spindle shaped juice sacs suspended in carrier liquid, pale orange to orange, free from browning |
| Flavour and odour | Characteristic mandarin, free from alkaline, bitter or cooked notes |
| Sac length | 4 to 10 mm, graded fraction declared per lot |
| Intact sac content | 85 percent minimum by count |
| Sac to carrier ratio | 45 to 60 percent sacs by weight |
| Soluble solids | 14.0 to 18.0 Brix at 20 degrees Celsius, syrup packed |
| pH | 3.4 to 4.0 |
| Residual membrane and fragments | 1.0 percent maximum by weight |
| Lead | 0.05 mg/kg maximum |
| Arsenic | 0.1 mg/kg maximum |
| Total plate count | 100 cfu/g maximum, aseptic grade |
| Yeast and mould | 10 cfu/g maximum |
| Escherichia coli | Negative in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Negative in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
Grades are set principally by sac size and by carrier medium. Sac length is graded on screens into short, standard and long fractions, with longer sacs priced higher because they are more visible in a clear bottle. The carrier is either a light sugar syrup, mandarin juice or single strength juice from concentrate, and the choice affects both the Brix of the finished slurry and the label declaration of the beverage it goes into.
Beyond that, lots are distinguished by preservation route, between aseptically filled ambient material, chilled pasteurised material and frozen material, and by the peeling method used, since chemically peeled and enzymatically peeled sacs differ in residual membrane content and in surface condition. Colour is specified as pale orange to orange, and lots with browning from over long alkali contact are downgraded. Organic certified material is traded separately.
Applications
- Pulp bearing mandarin and orange juice drinks, the largest outlet, where suspended sacs give a fresh squeezed appearance
- Bottled tea and fruit tea beverages, where the sacs provide a visible particulate without gum stabilisers
- Tea shop and food service drinks, added by scoop into fruit teas and citrus beverages
- Drinking yoghurts and fermented milk drinks, dosed after fermentation to keep the sacs intact
- Set yoghurt and spoonable dairy desserts, contributing texture as well as flavour
- Jellies, konjac cups and dessert gels, where the sacs are suspended in the set matrix
- Fruit preparations for bakery, tart fillings and dessert toppings
- Canned fruit cocktail and dessert mixes as a segment free citrus component
- Ice cream, sorbet and frozen dessert inclusions
China Manufacturers of Mandarin Orange Sacs
Top Mandarin Orange Sacs 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 mandarin sacs are a conventional food ingredient. Processing aids used to remove the segment membrane, notably hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide, are permitted for this purpose and are removed by washing, so they are not declared as ingredients when no functional residue remains in the finished food, and residual alkalinity and chloride are specification points that demonstrate adequate washing. Enzyme preparations used as an alternative are handled as processing aids with generally recognised as safe status for the enzymes concerned. Juice based products made with the sacs are subject to the hazard analysis and critical control point plan required by 21 CFR Part 120.
In the European Union the sacs are a fruit ingredient rather than an additive, and acid and alkali used for peeling are processing aids under the general food law framework, not additives requiring an E number. Where the sacs come packed in syrup the product is labelled as a fruit preparation rather than under the reserved descriptions of the Fruit Juice Directive, and any beverage made with them declares the fruit content according to the rules on food information to consumers. Codex covers the material through its standards for processed fruit products and the general principles of food hygiene, and pesticide residue limits for citrus apply to the incoming fruit.
Manufacturing Process
Mandarins are washed, graded and peeled, either by hand, by steam and mechanical scarification, or in a flash heating and cooling step that loosens the flavedo. The fruit is then broken into segments and the segments are freed of their enclosing membrane. Two routes are used. The traditional acid and alkali route passes segments through a dilute hydrochloric acid bath followed by a dilute sodium hydroxide bath, each at controlled temperature and contact time, which hydrolyses the membrane so that it can be washed away. The enzymatic route substitutes a pectinase and cellulase treatment, works at milder conditions and gives less browning, but takes longer and costs more.
Freed sacs are washed repeatedly in clean water to remove residual reagent, then screened and graded by size, with broken sacs and residual membrane carried off in the wash. The graded sacs are dosed into their carrier syrup or juice, the mixture is brought to target Brix and acidity, and it is pasteurised gently on a tubular heat exchanger sized to avoid shear. It is then filled aseptically into bag in box or drums, or filled and chilled, or blast frozen, with all transfers made through low shear pumps to keep the sacs whole.
