| abstract |
This invention pertains to a novel process for preserving the quality attributes and ascorbic acid content of fresh fruit juices and fruit juice blends. The process involves sanitizing the outer surface of a fruit, extract-ing the juice from the edible portion of the fruit, gasify-ing the juice with an oxygen-containing, carbon dioxide-containing gas mixture, filling a high gas-barrier con-tainer with the juice; hermetically sealing the container and rapidly cooling the juice in the container. Alterna-tively, the extracted juice may be filled into the high gas barrier container and then gasified prior to hermetically sealing the container. |