WHITE PAPER

Vitamin C retention
in orange juice
production
Getting past the myths and doing
more with less

December 2016
Revision 1
CONTENTS

Introduction 3
Who is this booklet for? 3
How is orange juice quality defined and measured? 4
What are the myths surrounding orange juice quality? 4
Thermal effects 4
Strong deaeration 4
Aroma loss 5
What we measured 5
Measured effects of pasteurization on vitamin C retention 6
Measured effects of deaeration on vitamin C retention, colour and
taste 7
How much deaeration is needed? 8
Effects on colour 9
Effects on taste 10
Overall conclusion 11
Tetra Pak – your processing partner 12

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Introduction
Who is this booklet for?
This booklet is intended for
► R&D and quality assurance specialists who are interested in maintaining
food quality and food safety, particularly with respect to vitamin C retention in
beverages.
► Plant managers and production managers who are interested in reducing the
total cost of ownership (TCO) and the carbon footprint of their beverage
operations.
► Environmental managers who are interested in reducing carbon footprints of
their beverage operations.
We at Tetra Pak would like to share what we know about the effects of
pasteurization and deaeration on orange juice quality, and indicate future areas of
exploration.
This white paper presents the results of large-scale experiments on orange juice
processing. The major finding is that – contrary to many widely held beliefs –
pasteurization does NOT adversely affect vitamin C retention. In addition, strong
deaeration is NOT necessary to retain vitamin C levels; moderate deaeration levels
yield the same result. Similar findings are indicated for other quality indicators
such as aroma, taste, or colour.

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How is orange juice quality defined and measured?
The main quality parameters for orange juice are vitamin C content, flavour and
colour.
Vitamin C is very important quality factor for orange juice. Vitamin C contents are
often stated on the label of the package, and as vitamin C decreases over storage
time, due to oxidation and non-oxidative reactions, this decrease often determines
the shelf life of the product. There are large variations in vitamin C depending on
raw material, but values around 400 mg/L (400 ppm) directly after packaging are
normal. To analyse vitamin C content, methods based on reflectometers or titration
can be built in to everyday process control. A third method, high-pressure liquid
chromography (HPLC), is normally performed by external labs.
Colour is also very important, as the general appearance makes a difference to
consumers. Orange juice gets darker over time due to oxidation and non-oxidative
reactions. Colour is normally analysed using a colorimeter (L*a*b*-system),
digital image colour analysis, or simply by visual inspection.
Flavour and taste are normally tested by a taste panel. Normally one uses a trained
panel for R&D activities and experienced staff for everyday quality control.
Flavour is very much linked to volatile aroma compounds in the juice. Aromas can
be quantified with gas chromatography.

What are the myths surrounding orange juice quality?

Thermal effects
One of the prevailing myths regarding orange juice processing is that thermal
processing, such as pasteurization, can remove 30% or more of vitamin C content,
which should naturally be a major nutritional concern. It is true that heat has an
effect on vitamin C, but the short time at elevated temperature during continuous
processing actually has little effect. Storage conditions have a much greater effect
on vitamin C content, and thus shelf life.

Strong deaeration
Another myth is that orange juice needs to be strongly deaerated to extremely low
oxygen levels to avoid vitamin C degradation during storage. As we will show, one
can achieve roughly the same result with a much milder deaeration.

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Aroma loss
It is also widely believed that a significant aroma loss takes place during
deaeration, probably because of the aromas sensed around the deaerator.
However, an earlier analysis of 23 different orange juice aromas conducted by gas
chromatography at the Tetra Pak Research Centre in Germany in 1999 showed that
these losses are only minor. We will not take up the issue of aromas further in this
discussion, but concentrate on vitamin C retention, colour and taste.

What we measured
We set out to clarify these issues by measuring orange juice quality after
processing and after packaging, focussing on the levels of vitamin C. In particular,
we wanted to separate the effects of processing from those of packaging and
storing.
We have collected data over several years from internal pilot plant tests as well as
full-scale operations together with customers. The results have been analysed
internally at Tetra Pak laboratory facilities in Sweden, Brazil, and Germany.
In Sweden a reflectometry method was used to measure vitamin C; in Brazil we
used titration; and in Germany we used HPLC.
For colour analyses we used the colorimeters at Tetra Pak in Sweden and Germany.
Taste analyses were carried out by an expert panel.

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Measured effects of pasteurization on vitamin C
retention
The following table summarizes a number of measurements of vitamin C that we
made before and after pasteurization of orange juice.
Vitamin C levels before and after pasteurization (processed), expressed as ppm

Past. Temp./time Before After Loss (%) Vit C

pasteurization pasteurization, test method

95°C/15s OJ FC 450 445 1.1 Reflective method

80°C/15s OJ FC 450 442 1.7 Reflective method

95°C/17s NFC OJ 348 348 0.0 Titration

95°C/17s NFC OJ 333 323 3.0 Titration

95°C/17s NFC OJ 360 342 5.0 Titration

95°C/17s OJ FC 425 422 0.7 Titration

95°C/17s OJ FC 413 404 2.2 Titration

85°C/30s OJ FC 435 431 0.9 HPLC

95C°C/30 OJ FC 435 425 2.2 HPLC

105°C/30s OJ FC 435 425 2.3 HPLC

OJ = Orange Juice; NFC = Not from Concentrate; FC = From Concentrate

From the table above, we can see no significant effect of the pasteurization process
on vitamin C loss, when the level of vitamin C is measured directly before
packaging.
Then why does the industry often report vitamin C losses? The key may be the fact
that vitamin C content is usually measured AFTER packaging, and after some
storage time has gone by. We explore this in the next section.

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Measured effects of deaeration on vitamin C retention,
colour and taste
As the beverage industry is well aware, any oxygen trapped in the packaging
process may lead to product degradation. When we measure vitamin C levels under
controlled circumstances, with different amounts of deaeration, a more precise
picture emerges.
In a packaged product containing high levels of dissolved oxygen – where levels of
8-9 mg/l are possible – then proportional amounts of vitamin C can be lost.
A general rule of thumb is that 1 mg of oxygen consumes 11mg of vitamin C.
O2 ppm as function of storage time in 1 L orange juice

The graph shows how the dissolved oxygen content in non-deaerated orange juice
decreases rapidly during storage in an airtight carton package. This is due to the
oxygen being consumed by oxidation of ascorbic acid (vitamin C). The chemical
kinetics is quite fast, so if the vitamin C analysis is not done immediately after the
juice production, a low vitamin C measurement might be misinterpreted as a loss
due to juice pasteurization, rather than the effects of this initial oxidation.

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How much deaeration is needed?
Tests were run on orange juice (from concentrate) with three different levels of
deaeration (see table below), with the objective of comparing their effects on
vitamin C degradation, colour and taste.
No deaeration >8ppm (O2) in the package (0 D in the graph)

Moderate deaeration 2.4ppm (O2) in the package (+D in the graph)

Strong deaeration 0.8ppm (O2) in the package (++D in the graph)

Samples were stored at either 23°C or 35°C for 20 weeks.

The table starts at Day 0 but in reality this is data from day 3. At this point all
Oxygen inside the package has been consumed by vitamin C.
We can see that no deaeration gives an instant reduction of vitamin C, due to the
above mentioned initial oxidation, after which the curves continue downward, due
to non-oxidative degradation. The higher degradation rate at 35°C is due to the
faster breakdown at this temperature.
There is almost no discernible difference between moderate deaeration (2.4 ppm
O2) and strong deaeration (0.8 ppm O2).

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Effects on colour
Together with measurements of vitamin C, the colour of the juice was measured
colometrically and as well as by visual appearance. The graph below shows colour,
expressed as an L value during storage.

Samples after 20 weeks of storage

The orange juice samples showed a clear browning over time which was only
slightly more pronounced in case of the not deaerated orange juice samples 12
(23°C) and 9 (35°C) compared to the deaerated samples 10/11 (23°C) and 7/8
(35°C), based on the colour measurements according to the L*a*b* system.

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The non-deaerated juice was only slightly darker than the deaerated juices.
Changes in colour from left to right are in fact hard to detect with the naked eye.
On the other hand, the storage temperature has a very big impact on the colour; the
top row of samples was stored at 35°C, and the bottom row at 23°C. A trained test
panel could not detect any significant colour difference between the samples at
same storage temperature.

Effects on taste
The different levels of deaeration of orange juice did not impact the sensory
properties of the juice.
There was no difference detected among the samples stored at the same
temperature, but which had different deaeration levels – neither right after
processing nor during storage. It can thus be concluded that the different levels of
deaeration did not have any impact on the taste of the juice.

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Overall conclusion
Our experiments succeeded in debunking the myths surrounding vitamin C
degradation. As we can see from these results, it is primarily the amount of
dissolved oxygen in the product that determines vitamin C retention – not thermal
treatment. The juice that was not deaerated during processing showed a
significantly lower initial vitamin C concentration due to the high availability of
dissolved oxygen in the juice compared to the deaerated juices.
► Vitamin C degradation is due to dissolved oxygen or level of deaeration, not
thermal treatment.
► Deaeration will protect from vitamin C degradation, but there is an optimal
level of deaeration – not necessarily all oxygen must be removed to obtain a
product with good quality.
► Higher storage temperatures accelerate degradation.
► Thermal treatment and deaeration have no significant effects on the other key
quality characteristics of taste and colour for orange juice. (Earlier tests had
indicated little effects on aromas.)
As we continue with research and development in the food processing industry, it
is clear that we should question “accepted knowledge” and “industry know-how”
more often. To maintain quality and safety of the beverages we produce, we need
more information about the processing parameters of individual beverages, and
careful consideration of the whole food processing chain, from raw materials to
processing, packaging, distribution and storage.
The results and conclusions in this report are valid for vitamin C degradation in
orange juice. There can be other reasons for deaerating products besides vitamin C
degradation.
Our continuing experience in the beverage field indicates that beverage processing
can be a highly variable area where optimizing processing can come down to
individual beverages and the characteristics of their raw materials. Tetra Pak stands
ready to help you determine what that optimal process is, based on practical field
trials, our calculation tools, and our years of expertise.

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Tetra Pak – your processing partner
Tetra Pak food chemists and process engineers are very knowledgeable in the field
of thermal treatment, mixing, deaeration, packaging and storage. If you would like
to gain more insights into optimization of beverage quality – particularly if you
need advice when specifying processing parameters or integrating processing
equipment into a line – feel free to contact your Tetra Pak representative.
Additional information about beverage processing can be found on
www.tetrapak.com/processing/beverages
For further information on these matters, please contact
Beverage Centre of Expertise at Tetra Pak, Christer Lanzingh at
christer.lanzingh@tetrapak.com, Anders Löfgren at anders.lofgren@tetrapak.com
or your local Tetra Pak representative.

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