Production of cherry juice
Cherry juice processing can lead to exceptional, high quality, fully colored products without resorting to unusual varietal blends or specialized process techniques. Quality of the product is highly dependent upon incoming raw material and quality of the process.
Juice processing and utilization will vary accordingly. There are two general directions to approach cherry juice production. One is a hot extraction process and the other is a cold extraction process. Both yield a reasonable quality product; however the hot extraction process results in a somewhat higher color extraction and greater amounts of insoluble solids that just be removed in the final filtration operation.
A cold press produces a more fresh flavored juice provided that subsequent processing does not adversely affect flavored. The cold extraction process involves taking fresh cherries, washed and either pitting them or running them through a hammer mill that has been adjusted in order to maintain minimum breakage of pits.
The yield obtained by cold extraction varies from 61 to 68%. Extraction of juice from cherries can be optimized for color with the addition of ascorbic acid and the uses of the short-term mild blanch prior to pressing.
Heating the whole fruit to about 60 °C with gentle agitation and macerating enzyme greatly facilitates juice and color extraction. Depending upon the variety used, the juice can vary significantly in chemical composition.
The freshly juice is rapidly heated to 87.7 – 93.3 °C and then cooled. This operation inactivated enzymes, kills microorganism and coagulates colloidal matter.
Cherry juice is generally clarified and filtered. The clarified juice can be concentrated with good color retention and for a 100 percent cherry juice. A simple method of preparing the juice for filtration is to treat it with Pectinol.
A possible use of homogenization could assist in leading to stable nectar.
Sour cherry juice is amendable to blends with less acidic juices or as a nectar with added sugar. It is necessary to bring the density of the juice to about 17 Brix.
Production of cherry juice
