Extraction, Processing, Canning, and Keeping Quality of Acerola Juice

Abstract

The juice is best extracted from the acerola by pressing the mashed fruit in a cider press. The recovery of juice varies from about 59 to 73 percent of the weight of the fresh fruit used, depending on the pressure applied and the ripeness of the fruit. The extracted juice is clarified by centrifugation followed by filtration using Hyflo Supercell. Although pasteurization of the juice causes but a slight loss of the ascorbic acid content, it induces a change in color and flavor of the juice. The product must be canned in enameled cans to prevent excessive discoloration. When the juice was stored at room temperature (80° to 85°F.) the loss of ascorbic acid during 1 year amounted to from 53.5 to 81.5 percent. The loss of ascorbic acid is minimized by storage at 45°F. Juices stored at 45°F. suffered a maximum loss of ascorbic acid of about 20 percent during 1 year. Although the flavor of the juice changed during processing, the product can be used as a source of ascorbic acid to enrich other products without detrimentally affecting then taste. Only 1 part of the juice need be added to 27 parts of the product to be enriched with no appreciable change in flavor of the enriched product.