NFC Cloudy Apple Juice
NFC cloudy apple juice is pressed apple juice that retains its natural suspended solids, is stabilised against browning and cloud loss, and is pasteurised without being concentrated at any stage.
The cloud is a colloidal suspension of cell wall fragments, pectin and protein bound phenolics held in the juice serum, and it carries flavour, colour and mouthfeel that clarification removes. Keeping it in place is a process problem rather than a passive choice. Two enzymes native to the apple work against the product: polyphenol oxidase browns the juice within minutes of pressing, and pectin methylesterase de esterifies the pectin so that calcium bridges form and the cloud flocculates and settles. Both must be inactivated quickly by heat, and air must be excluded. Natural Brix is 11 to 14, titratable acidity is 0.3 to 0.8 percent as malic acid, and the pH sits near 3.3 to 3.9.
The juice trades chilled, frozen or aseptically filled, as an opaque golden to amber liquid. It separates on standing into a serum and a settled solids layer, which is normal and is corrected by agitation, but a hard packed sediment that will not redisperse indicates that cloud stabilisation failed. Colour drift towards brown over storage is the other routine quality limit.
We source bulk NFC Cloudy Apple 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 | Opaque juice with uniform cloud, redispersible sediment permitted, golden yellow to light amber, free from brown discolouration |
| Flavour and odour | Characteristic pressed apple, no cooked, oxidised or fermented note |
| Soluble solids | 11.0 to 13.5 Brix at 20 degrees Celsius, natural strength |
| pH | 3.3 to 3.9 |
| Titratable acidity as malic acid | 0.3 to 0.8 percent |
| Turbidity | 800 NTU minimum |
| Sediment after 72 hours at 20 degrees Celsius | 10 percent maximum by volume, fully redispersible |
| Patulin | 50 microgram per kg maximum |
| Lead | 0.03 mg/kg maximum |
| Inorganic arsenic | 10 microgram per 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
Grades are distinguished first by cloud level and cloud stability, measured as turbidity and as sediment volume after a defined standing period. They are distinguished next by whether the juice has been finished on a screen to a smooth suspension or left with a coarser particulate for a pressed apple appearance. Variety and blend matter more than in clear juice, since the phenolic content that gives cloudy juice its colour and astringency varies widely between dessert, culinary and cider cultivars.
The other distinctions are the antioxidant regime, between juice stabilised by thermal treatment and oxygen exclusion alone and juice carrying added ascorbic acid, and the preservation route, between chilled pasteurised, aseptic ambient, frozen and high pressure processed material. Organic certified juice and juice from a declared growing region are traded as separate specifications. Lots are bought on Brix, titratable acidity, turbidity, colour and sediment stability, with patulin results on the certificate of analysis.
Applications
- Chilled and ambient cloudy apple juice sold as a single juice, positioned on a pressed apple character
- Children and family beverages, where the cloudy appearance supports a whole fruit claim
- Smoothies and blended drinks, where the juice supplies body as well as a sweet base
- Juice blends, carrying stronger flavoured berry and tropical juices on a cloudy apple base
- Juice drinks and flavoured waters dosed to a declared juice percentage
- Cider production, where cloudy juice is fermented for a hazy or farmhouse style product
- Dairy fruit preparations, drinking yoghurts and fermented milk drinks on a low pH base
- Infant and toddler drinks and pouches formulated without added sugar
- Bakery fillings, compotes and dessert preparations
- Sorbets, ice lollies and frozen fruit bars
China Manufacturers of NFC Cloudy Apple Juice
Top NFC Cloudy Apple 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 cloudy apple juice is a conventional food, and processors operate the hazard analysis and critical control point plan required by 21 CFR Part 120, including the pathogen reduction requirement applying to juice. The action level for patulin in apple juice of 50 micrograms per kilogram in the single strength juice applies, and it is the specification that decides raw fruit selection. Inorganic arsenic in apple juice is subject to an action level, ascorbic acid used as an antioxidant is a permitted additive that must be declared, and the Brix reference value for apple establishes single strength for percentage juice declaration.
In the European Union cloudy apple juice falls under the Fruit Juice Directive as amended, which reserves the description fruit juice for material that has not been reconstituted, and which permits the restoration of characteristics through recovered aroma and pulp while restricting other additions. Patulin is subject to a maximum level in fruit juices under the contaminants regulation, supported by a code of practice on its prevention and reduction. Codex maintains a general standard for fruit juices and nectars and a code of practice for patulin control in apple juice. Authenticity testing against the fruit juice industry reference guidelines is routine, and pesticide residue limits of the destination market apply to the incoming fruit.
Manufacturing Process
Apples are washed in a flume and sorted rigorously to remove rotten and mould damaged fruit, since patulin from Penicillium expansum survives pasteurisation and cloudy juice offers no clarification step that would reduce it. Sound fruit is milled and, in most lines, the mash is heated immediately or the juice is flash heated within seconds of pressing to inactivate polyphenol oxidase and pectin methylesterase before browning and cloud destabilisation can begin. Pectinase is either omitted or dosed only lightly, because the pectin that a clear juice line sets out to destroy is what holds the cloud in suspension here.
The mash is pressed on a belt or horizontal rotary press under low oxygen conditions, and the raw juice is passed over a coarse screen and a decanter or clarifier set to remove only heavy sediment and grit while leaving the fine colloidal fraction in place. The juice is deaerated under vacuum to strip dissolved oxygen, standardised for cloud level by blending, and in some lines dosed with ascorbic acid as an antioxidant. It is then pasteurised on a plate or tubular heat exchanger, cooled rapidly and filled aseptically, chilled or frozen, with no evaporation step at any point in the route.
