Strawberry Concentrate
Strawberry concentrate is the juice of Fragaria x ananassa evaporated under vacuum to about 65 degrees Brix, roughly nine times the soluble solids of the single strength juice. Buyers choose between a clarified grade, where a bright transparent liquid is needed, and a cloudy grade, which keeps more of the fruit character and pigment.
The colour is carried by pelargonidin-3-glucoside, an anthocyanin that gives strawberry its bright red shade but is among the less stable of the family. It fades towards brown during storage, more quickly at warm temperatures and at pH above about 3.8, so the concentrate is held frozen or aseptically packed and cold. Acidity is mainly citric with some malic, giving a single strength pH near 3.3 to 3.6.
The concentrate is a dark red viscous liquid, fully miscible with water and with sugar syrups. Most of the volatile aroma, dominated by esters and by the furanone that gives the characteristic jammy note, is stripped during evaporation, so aroma recovered from the vapour is added back or a separate aroma is dosed at the point of use.
We source bulk Strawberry Concentrate 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.
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- Function
- Beverage ingredient
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Clear to slightly hazy dark red viscous liquid |
| Soluble Solids | 65.0 ± 1.0 °Brix at 20°C |
| pH | 3.0-3.7 |
| Titratable Acidity | 8.0-14.0 g/100 g as citric acid |
| Colour (A 520 nm, 1% solution) | ≥ 0.20 |
| Water Insoluble Solids | ≤ 0.5% for clarified grade |
| Patulin | ≤ 50 µg/kg |
| Heavy Metals (as Pb) | ≤ 10 mg/kg |
| Lead | ≤ 0.3 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | ≤ 0.2 mg/kg |
| Total Plate Count | ≤ 1,000 cfu/g |
| Yeast and Mould | ≤ 50 cfu/g |
| E. coli | Negative in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
The main grades are clarified concentrate at 65 degrees Brix, produced by enzyme treatment, fining and filtration, and cloudy or depectinised concentrate in the 45 to 65 degrees Brix range, which keeps more pigment and pulp. Colour is a trading parameter in its own right and lots are often specified on an absorbance value at 520 nanometres in addition to Brix.
Aroma-added grades carrying the recovered volatiles are sold separately from stripped concentrate. Not-from-concentrate single strength juice, frozen at 7 to 9 degrees Brix, is a distinct product line, as are spray dried powders on maltodextrin for dry mixes. Organic certified material is widely available, and lots are commonly segregated by cultivar and origin because colour intensity varies considerably between them.
Applications
- Juice drinks and nectars, where it supplies both the strawberry identity and the red colour
- Flavoured waters and lightly sweetened still drinks at low dosage
- Dairy and plant-based drinking yoghurts, in which the acid pH holds the pigment in its red form
- Fruit preparations for spoonable yoghurt, blended with pieces and stabiliser
- Ice cream, sorbet and frozen dessert bases, where frozen storage protects the anthocyanin
- Sugar confectionery, gummies and fruit chews as a combined flavour, acid and colour source
- Bakery fillings, glazes and fruit toppings
- Jams, syrups and dessert sauces, where the high solids level reduces the water to be boiled off
- Alcoholic ready to drink products, ciders and flavoured beers
- Dry beverage powders and instant desserts, using the spray dried grade
China Manufacturers of Strawberry Concentrate
Top Strawberry Concentrate 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
Strawberry concentrate is a fruit juice concentrate rather than an additive. In the United States it is a conventional food ingredient, its manufacture falls under the FDA juice HACCP regulation at 21 CFR Part 120, and it is declared as strawberry juice concentrate. In the European Union it falls under the fruit juice framework set by Directive 2001/112/EC as amended, which governs permitted treatments, reconstitution to the minimum Brix for the fruit and the reserved product names.
Where the concentrate is added mainly for colour it is treated as a colouring foodstuff, provided the pigment has not been selectively extracted, and is declared as an ingredient rather than carrying an E number. Codex covers the product through its general standard for fruit juices and nectars, which sets the reference Brix value for reconstituted strawberry juice.
Manufacturing Process
Fruit arrives frozen, usually as individually quick frozen berries or as frozen blocks, and is thawed under temperature control to limit pigment loss. The thawed fruit is milled to a mash and held with a pectinase and cellulase preparation at around 45 to 50 degrees Celsius, which breaks down the pectin that otherwise makes strawberry one of the hardest fruits to press. The liquid is separated on a decanter centrifuge or a horizontal press.
Raw juice is clarified with a fining system based on gelatin and silica sol, or by ultrafiltration where a stable bright product is required, then polish filtered. Concentration takes place on a multiple effect falling film evaporator under vacuum, with the aroma fraction stripped in the first effect, rectified in an aroma column and set aside. The concentrate is standardised to 65 degrees Brix, pasteurised briefly, cooled quickly and either filled aseptically into bag-in-drum packs or frozen and held at minus 18 degrees Celsius.
