Pomelo Sacs
Pomelo sacs are the intact juice vesicles of the pomelo, Citrus maxima, separated from the segment membrane and packed in syrup or frozen, and used as a visible fruit particulate in beverages and desserts.
Each sac is a spindle shaped cell about 5 to 15 millimetres long with a tough cellulose wall enclosing juice. Because the wall is robust, the sacs survive pumping, filling and pasteurisation intact and burst only when chewed, which is the property the beverage trade buys them for. Pomelo juice is mildly acidic at around pH 3.5 and carries the flavanones naringin and neohesperidin, which give the fruit its characteristic bitterness. That bitterness is concentrated in the albedo and the segment membrane rather than in the sacs themselves, so removing the membrane cleanly is the difference between a pleasantly bitter product and an unusable one.
Packers fill the sacs into cans, pails or aseptic bags in a light sugar syrup, and also freeze them individually as loose sacs. Colour ranges from pale yellow white in white flesh varieties to pink in red flesh varieties, and both are traded. The sacs are held chilled or frozen unless the pack has been commercially sterilised, since the low acidity relative to lemon fruit does not by itself preserve them.
We source bulk Pomelo 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
- Bakery ingredient
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Separate intact juice vesicles, free from membrane, peel and seed fragments |
| Colour | Pale yellow white or pink according to variety, uniform within the lot |
| Flavour and odour | Characteristic pomelo, slightly bitter, no fermented or cooked note |
| Whole sacs | 90 percent minimum by weight |
| Drained weight | Declared per pack, 55 percent of net weight minimum |
| Total soluble solids of syrup | 14 to 20 degrees Brix |
| pH | 3.2 to 4.0 |
| Foreign matter | Absent |
| Lead | 0.1 mg/kg maximum |
| Arsenic | 0.2 mg/kg maximum |
| Total plate count | 1,000 cfu/g maximum |
| Yeast and mould | 50 cfu/g maximum |
| Escherichia coli | Negative in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Negative in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
The main grading line is sac integrity. Whole sac grades, in which the vesicles remain unbroken and separate, carry the highest specification and are used where the particulate must be visible in a clear drink. Broken or crushed grades, where the sacs have been partly ruptured during separation, are sold for fillings and blended applications. Colour is the second line, with white flesh and red or pink flesh material specified separately and not mixed.
Preservation format divides the trade into individually quick frozen loose sacs, chilled sacs in syrup, canned sacs in light syrup and aseptically filled bag in box for beverage plants. Sugar level in the syrup runs from a light pack at low Brix through to heavy syrup, and unsweetened grades packed in juice or in water are made for manufacturers who add their own sweetener. Debittered grades, in which the flavanone content has been reduced, are traded alongside standard grades where the finished drink is not intended to taste bitter.
Applications
- Honey pomelo tea and citrus tea preparations, where the sacs supply visible fruit alongside candied peel
- Ready to drink fruit teas and juice drinks with visible particulates, filled through wide bore pistons
- Bubble tea and milk tea shops, added as a fresh fruit topping to grapefruit and pomelo drinks
- Drinking and spoonable yoghurt, in which the acid tolerant sacs keep their shape through shelf life
- Fruit preparations for dairy, dosed as the particulate phase of a citrus fruit prep
- Jelly desserts and cup desserts, suspended in a gelled base
- Ice cream and sorbet inclusions, added frozen so the sacs do not rupture during freezing
- Bakery fillings and tart toppings using citrus fruit pieces
- Cocktail and mocktail mixers, where the sacs burst on chewing and release juice
China Manufacturers of Pomelo Sacs
Top Pomelo 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
Pomelo sacs are a fruit preparation rather than a food additive, so no E number applies and the product has no additive listing in the United States. Manufacture falls under the general hygiene and process control frameworks, Regulation 852/2004 with the general food law in the European Union and the preventive controls rules of 21 CFR Part 117 in the United States, with the thermal process documented as a critical control point. Where the finished pack is an acidified or low acid canned food shipped to the United States, the thermal process and the establishment come under 21 CFR Parts 108, 113 and 114 as applicable, and the process must be filed accordingly.
Ingredient level rules govern anything added to the pack. Sugar syrups need no authorisation, while the additive rules cover any preservative, colour or firming agent: the European Union authorises potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate as E202 and E211, and 21 CFR 182.3640 and 21 CFR 184.1733 permit them in the United States. Calcium salts used as firming agents for citrus segments are permitted in both markets. Pesticide residues on citrus are controlled by maximum residue levels set under Regulation 396/2005 in the European Union and by tolerances at 40 CFR Part 180 in the United States, and citrus lots are routinely screened against both. Codex maintains standards for certain canned citrus fruits which are used as reference points for fill of container and syrup strength.
Manufacturing Process
Fruit is received, washed and graded, then the thick peel is removed by scoring and hand or mechanical peeling, which in pomelo is a substantial operation because the albedo layer is deep. Segments are separated and the tough segment membrane is taken off, either mechanically by passing segments through rollers and screens that release the sacs while retaining the membrane, or chemically by a short dip in dilute alkali followed by an acid neutralisation and thorough washing. That is the same principle used for canned mandarin segments. The freed vesicles are washed repeatedly in cold water to remove membrane fragments, residual alkali and the bitter flavanones carried over from the albedo.
Washed sacs are screened to grade by size and to remove broken material, then either dewatered and frozen individually on a fluidised bed freezer, or filled into cans, pails or aseptic bags with a syrup made to the specified Brix. Filled packs are pasteurised, with the time and temperature set by the pH and the intended shelf life, then cooled quickly to preserve texture, since prolonged heat softens the cell wall and the sacs lose their burst. Where a debittered grade is required, the washed sacs or the accompanying juice are passed over an adsorbent resin that removes naringin before packing.
