NFC Kale Juice
NFC kale juice is juice extracted from the leaves and tender stems of kale, Brassica oleracea variety acephala, preserved without concentration and used as a green vegetable juice base.
Kale is a leafy brassica rather than a juicy fruit, so the juice is recovered by screw pressing macerated leaf rather than by hydraulic pressing, and yields are low relative to root or fruit crops. Soluble solids are correspondingly modest at about 4 to 8 Brix, and the pH sits between 5.8 and 6.6, which places the juice firmly in the low acid range and makes microbial control the main process question. Colour is chlorophyll based and is the attribute buyers judge first, since chlorophyll degrades to olive brown pheophytin under heat and acid. The juice also carries glucosinolates and their myrosinase derived breakdown products, which give it the characteristic sulphurous brassica note, along with lutein, beta carotene, vitamin K and a substantial oxalate load.
It reaches buyers chilled, frozen or high pressure processed, in bottles, pouches, bag in box and drums, as an opaque deep green liquid. It separates readily into a serum and a settled fibre layer and requires agitation before use. Colour and flavour both drift under thermal load and under oxygen exposure, which is why most commercial kale juice is preserved by pressure or by freezing rather than by conventional pasteurisation.
We source bulk NFC Kale 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.
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 | Opaque green juice, settled fibre redispersible on agitation, deep green, free from olive or brown discolouration |
| Flavour and odour | Characteristic fresh kale, no cooked, sulphurous or fermented off note |
| Soluble solids | 4.0 to 8.0 Brix at 20 degrees Celsius |
| pH | 5.8 to 6.6, unblended juice |
| Total solids | 5.0 to 9.0 percent |
| Suspended fibre after screening | 2.0 percent maximum by volume |
| Nitrate | 2000 mg/kg maximum |
| Lead | 0.05 mg/kg maximum |
| Arsenic | 0.1 mg/kg maximum |
| Total plate count | 1000 cfu/g maximum |
| Yeast and mould | 100 cfu/g maximum |
| Escherichia coli | Negative in 1 g |
| Listeria monocytogenes | Negative in 25 g |
| Salmonella | Negative in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
The main grade distinctions are preservation route and clarity. High pressure processed chilled juice retains the brightest green colour and the freshest flavour and is the highest priced grade. Frozen juice is the volume grade for onward manufacture. Thermally pasteurised juice is cheaper and ambient stable but darker and more strongly cooked in flavour. On clarity, unfiltered whole juice retains fine fibre and the deepest colour, while screened juice is finished through a fine mesh for a smoother product that pumps and fills more cleanly.
Beyond that, lots are traded as organic certified or conventional, and by cultivar, since curly kale, Tuscan kale and Siberian types differ in colour depth and in the intensity of the brassica note. Some material comes as a blend already acidified with apple, lemon or pineapple juice, which both improves palatability and moves the product into the acid range for preservation, and this blended form is specified on the finished pH rather than on kale juice alone.
Applications
- Cold pressed green juice ranges sold chilled on a vegetable forward positioning
- Green smoothies and blended vegetable drinks, usually combined with apple or citrus for balance
- Juice blends and wellness shots, where kale supplies colour and a nutritional claim
- Vegetable and fruit blends for children, where a small proportion adds green vegetable content
- Soups, broths and chilled savoury drinks
- Sauces, dressings and pesto style preparations needing green colour and brassica flavour
- Bakery and pasta doughs coloured with vegetable juice rather than added colour
- Dietary supplement liquids and sachets specified on carotenoid or vitamin K content
- Plant based dairy alternatives and savoury yoghurt style products
- Frozen preparations and meal component bases for food service
China Manufacturers of NFC Kale Juice
Top NFC Kale 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 kale juice is a conventional food and is subject to the hazard analysis and critical control point plan required by 21 CFR Part 120, including the pathogen reduction requirement that applies to juice, which may be met by thermal treatment or by a validated alternative such as high pressure processing. Because unblended kale juice has a pH above 4.6 it is a low acid food, so ambient shelf stable product must either be acidified and handled under the acidified foods regulation or processed under the low acid canned food rules. Untreated juice sold at retail carries the warning statement required for unpasteurised juice, and the incoming leaf is subject to the produce safety rule on the farm side.
In the European Union vegetable juices sit outside the Fruit Juice Directive and are governed by general food law and the hygiene regulations, with the microbiological criteria regulation applying to ready to eat products. Nitrate accumulates in leafy brassicas and is the contaminant most often specified for this material, and heavy metal limits under the contaminants regulation apply, together with pesticide residue limits, which matter for kale because it is a leafy crop with a large treated surface. Codex covers the material through its code of hygienic practice for fresh fruits and vegetables and its general contaminant standard.
Manufacturing Process
Kale is harvested, field cooled and delivered quickly, since leaf quality falls away within a day or two. At the plant the leaves are inspected, trimmed of woody stem and washed in several stages, with the final wash carrying a sanitiser and a rinse, because soil, insects and field microbial load are all high on leafy crops. The clean leaf is macerated in a comminuting mill, and the pulp is pressed on a screw or belt press, sometimes with a hydraulic pack press for a second extraction. Screw pressing is preferred where a colder, gentler action is wanted, since heat generated in extraction accelerates chlorophyll loss.
The raw juice is screened to remove coarse fibre and passed over a decanter or fine mesh finisher according to grade. It is deaerated under vacuum to strip oxygen, chilled immediately and, where required, blended with fruit juice to bring the pH down. Preservation follows one of three routes: high pressure processing in the sealed retail pack, which leaves the colour largely intact; thermal pasteurisation on a tubular heat exchanger followed by rapid cooling and aseptic or chilled filling; or blast freezing after filling. No evaporation step is used at any point, and cold chain is maintained from press to despatch.
