Ultraviolet treatment of orange juice

Ultraviolet (UV) with a wavelength of 254 nm tends to inactivate most types of microorganisms. Most juices are opaque to UV due to the high-suspended solids in them and hence the conventional UV treatment, usually used for water treatment, cannot be used for treating juices. In order to make the process efficient, a thin film reactor was designed and constructed from glass with the juice flowing along the inner surface of a vertical glass tube as a thin film. The decimal reduction doses required for the reconstitute orange juices (OJ; 10.5° Brix) were 87±7 and 119±17 mJ/cm² for the standard aerobic plate count (APC) and yeast and moulds, respectively. The shelf life of fresh squeezed orange juice was extended to 5 days with a limited exposure of UV (73.8 mJ/cm²). The effect of UV on the concentration of Vitamin C was investigated using both HPLC and titration methods of measurements. The degradation of Vitamin C was 17% under high UV exposure of 100 mJ/cm², which was similar to that usually found in thermal sterilization. Enzyme pectin methylesterase (PME) activity, which is the major cause of cloud loss of juices, was also measured. In contrast to the heat treatment, UV processing does not inactivate enzyme pectin methylesterase. The energy required for UV treatment of orange juice (2.0 kW h/m³) was much smaller than that required in thermal treatment (82 kW h/m³). The color and pH of the juice were not significantly influenced by the treatment.

Industrial relevance

This paper is of interest since it suggest—despite the low UV transmittance in orange juices—the use of a thin film UV reactor. The data suggest that shelf life extension from 2 to more than 5 days could be achieved with less energy requirements than for thermal processing. However, it seems unlikely that such thin film reactors could provide a real alternative to current conventional or new (e.g. high pressure pulsed electric field) processing.