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EP0110638A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Process for preparing citrus juice concentrate

Assignee: Procter and Gamble Co
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Filing: 1983-11-18
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2003-11-18
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Abstract

Abstract A process for preparing a citrus fruit juice concentrate having a high level of citrus juice aroma and flavor volatiles is disclosed. The fruit juice concentrate has at least 33% solids including pulp, sugars, pectin. The citrus juice concentrate contains at least 60% of the volatiles naturally occurring in the juice. The process involves stripping the volatiles from citrus juice at reduced pressures using a stripping agent, such as steam, at temperaturs about 100°F (37.7°C) to about 160°F (71 °C). The volatiles are condensed. The condensate can be separated into two fractions: a limonene-based stripper oil and aqueous stripper essence. The aqueous stripper essence is concentrated, usually with a carrier material. The concentrated aqueous stripper essence composition contains most of the highly volatile aroma and flavor components of the juice. The concentrated aqueous stripper essence and stripper oil compositions are blended with the conventionally concentrated citrus juice to make a superior citrus juice concentrate. Both an aqueous essence (evaporator essence) and an oil essence (evaporator essence oil) can be recovered from the evaporation step. Both of these contain much less of the volatile components than normally would be recovered from the evaporator because these components were removed in the stripping step. The devolatilized juice is also concentrated using conventional evaporation or concentration techniques.

Inventors

  • 👤 John Robert Powers
  • 👤 Robert Sidney Moore
  • 👤 Barry Jay Anderson
  • 👤 Galen Edward Downton
  • 👤 Judith Ann Kennedy
  • 👤 Donald Raymond Kearney
  • 👤 David Arthur Strang

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-09 03:48
CPC Classifications
A; A23; A23L; A23L2/00; A23L2/02; A23L2/08; A23L27/00; A23L27/10; A23L27/12; A23L27/13

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 31
Claim 1
Independent Claim 65 words
A process for producing a citrus aroma and flavor concentrate comprising the steps of: (1) stripping aroma and flavor volatiles from citrus juice with a stripping agent at temperatures of from about 100°F to about 160°F, and pressures of up to about 9 in. Hg. absolute; (2) condensing the volatiles at temperatures of from about 95°F to about -320°F; and (3) concentrating the condensed volatiles.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 65 words
A process for producing a citrus aroma and flavor concentrate comprising the steps of: (1) stripping aroma and flavor volatiles from citrus juice with a stripping agent at temperatures of from about 100°F to about 160°F, and pressures of up to about 9 in. Hg. absolute; (2) condensing the volatiles at temperatures of from about 95°F to about -320°F; and (3) concentrating the condensed volatiles.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 36 words
A process according to Claim 1 wherein the stripping agent is steam and the condensed volatiles are separated into a limonene-based stripper essence oil and an aqueous stripper essence, and the aqueous stripper essence is concentrated.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 30 words
) 3. A process according to Claim 1 or 2 wherein the stripping step (1) is at pressures of from about 2 inches to about 6 inches of Hg. absolute.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 40 words
A process according to any of Claims 1 to 3 wherein the volatiles are condensed under vacuum in three separate condensers, one condenser at temperatures of from 60°F to 95°F, one from 33°F to 60°F, and one condenser below -50°F.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 21 words
A process according to any of Claims 1 to 4 wherein the concentrating step (3) is freeze concentration or reverse osmosis.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 21 words
A process according to any of Claims 1 to 5 wherein the volatiles are concentrated in the presence of a carrier.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 18 words
A process according to Claim 6 wherein the carrier is citrus juice, preferably orange juice or grapefruit juice.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 17 words
A process according to Claim 6 wherein the carrier is a carbohydrate, optionally also containing citric acid.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 31 words
A process according to Claim 8 wherein the carrier comprises 30% to 50% sucrose, 15% to 25% fructose, 15% to 25% glucose, 0.5% to 1.5% citric acid on a solids basis.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 39 words
A process according to any of Claims 1 to 9 comprising the further steps of concentrating the stripped citrus juice of step (1) and combining the aroma and flavor concentrate of step (3) with the concentrated stripped citrus juice.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 84 words
A process for producing a citrus juice concentrate comprising the steps of: (1) stripping the aroma and flavor volatiles from citrus juice using a stripping agent, at temperatures of from about 100°F to about 160°F and at pressures of up to 9 in. Hg. absolute (2) condensing the volatiles at temperatures of from about 95°F to -320°F; (3) concentrating the stripped citrus juice of step (1); and (4) combining the condensed aroma flavor volatiles of step (2) with the concentrated juice of step (3).
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 84 words
A process for producing a citrus juice concentrate comprising the steps of: (1) stripping the aroma and flavor volatiles from citrus juice using a stripping agent, at temperatures of from about 100°F to about 160°F and at pressures of up to 9 in. Hg. absolute (2) condensing the volatiles at temperatures of from about 95°F to -320°F; (3) concentrating the stripped citrus juice of step (1); and (4) combining the condensed aroma flavor volatiles of step (2) with the concentrated juice of step (3).
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 34 words
A process according to Claim 10 or 11 wherein the stripped juice is evaporated at temperatures below about 215°F, preferably the evaporation concentrating temperature being a maximum of between about 160°F and about 210°F.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 25 words
A process according to Claim 10, 11 or 12 wherein from 5% to 19% pulp is added to the combined aroma flavour and concentrated juice.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 33 words
A process according to Claim 13 wherein the aroma flavour is added to the concentrated juice at about 2% to about 50%, preferably from about 2% to about 20% of the final product.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 41 words
A process according to Claim 13 or 14 wherein from 6% to 12% pulp having a size less than 0.5 mm and from 1% to 3% pulp having a size of 0.5 to 2.0 mm is added to the final product.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 51 words
A limonene-based stripper oil product derived from oranges comprising: (1) less than 1.1mg/ml of linalool; (2) less than 1.1 mg/ml of nonanal, the ratio of ncnanal to linalool being fran about 0.5:1 to about 4:1, preferably from about 0.5:1 to about 2:1; and (3) at least about 695 mg/ml of limonene.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 51 words
A limonene-based stripper oil product derived from oranges comprising: (1) less than 1.1mg/ml of linalool; (2) less than 1.1 mg/ml of nonanal, the ratio of ncnanal to linalool being fran about 0.5:1 to about 4:1, preferably from about 0.5:1 to about 2:1; and (3) at least about 695 mg/ml of limonene.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim 20 words
A product according to Claim 16 wherein the oil has a density of between about 0.75 and about 0.9 gm/ml.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim 20 words
A product according to Claim 16 or 17 wherein the linalool concentration is from about 0.4 mg/ml to 0.95 mg/ml.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim 26 words
A product according to any of Claims 16 to 18 wherein the stripper oil contains from about 7.5 to about 11 mg/ml of longer chain aldehydes.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim 21 words
A product according to Claim 19 wherein the stripper oil has from about 0.40 to 1.1 mg/ml of long chain alcohols.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim 24 words
A product according to Claim 20 wherein the ratio of the long chain alcohols to long chain aldehydes is from 7:1 to about 28:1.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim 30 words
A product according to any of Claims 16 to 21 wherein the total concentration of alpha-terpineol, d-carvone, guaniol, citronellal and nootkatone is from about 0.50 mg/ml to about 2.75 mg/ml.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim 52 words
An aqueous-based stripper essence derived from oranges comprising: from about 0.01% to about 2%, preferably from about 0.1% to 1% ethanol and water-soluble volatile compounds, said essence having a ratio of low-boiling water-soluble compounds to high-boiling water-soluble compounds of from about 0.01:1 to about 1:1, preferably from about 0.2:1 to about 0.3:1.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim 52 words
An aqueous-based stripper essence derived from oranges comprising: from about 0.01% to about 2%, preferably from about 0.1% to 1% ethanol and water-soluble volatile compounds, said essence having a ratio of low-boiling water-soluble compounds to high-boiling water-soluble compounds of from about 0.01:1 to about 1:1, preferably from about 0.2:1 to about 0.3:1.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim 21 words
An aqueous-based stripper essence according to Claim 23 wherein the amount of six carbon organic compounds is less than 4 mg/ml.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim 18 words
An aqueous-based stripper essence according to Claim 24 wherein the six carbon organic compounds consist essentially of hexanal.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim 26 words
A concentrated aqueous-based stripper essence comprising the stripper essence of any of Claims 23 to 25 and from about 20% to about 80% of a carrier.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim 38 words
A concentrated aqueous-based stripper essence according to Claim 26 wherein the carrier is orange juice solids, preferably in a level of from about 20% to about 45%, or a carbohydrate selected from sucrose, fructose, glucose and mixtures thereof.

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