PROCESS FOR PREPARING READY-TO-DRINK SHELF STABLE SUGARCANE JUICE BEVERAGE

PROCEDE DE PREPARATION D'UNE BOISSON DE JUS DE CANNE A SUCRE DE LONGUE CONSERVATION ET PRETE A BOIRE

English Abstract

The present invention relates to an improved process for the preparation of
ready-to-drink, shelf stable sugarcane juice beverage using a membrane-
processing unit and subsequent pasterurization.

French Abstract

La présente invention se rapporte à un procédé amélioré de préparation d'une boisson de jus de canne à sucre de longue conservation et prête à boire utilisant une unité de traitement de membrane et une pasteurisation ultérieure.

Claims

We claim:
1. A process for the preparation of ready-to-drink shelf stable sugarcane
juice beverage comprising:
a. soaking sugar canes in a tank containing potassium meta bi-sulphate
at 0.1 % concentration (w/v) and citric acid at 0.01 % concentration (w/v)
for a period of 2-4 hours,
b. washing the canes with plain water and crushing the canes using a
mechanical device to obtain the juice having 18-20° Brix,
c. diluting the juice to 14-16° Brix and adding citric acid at a
concentration
(w/v) of 0.1-0.5%,
d. filtering the above juice using a microfiltration unit employing a ceramic
membrane to obtain sugarcane juice, and
e. filling the clarified juice into packaging material and pasteurizing the
same to obtain a shelf stable sugarcane juice beverage.
2. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the clarified sugarcane juice is
homogenized using a heteropolysaccharide in a concentration (w/v) of 0.01-
0.10%.
3. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein ginger oleoresin is
incorporated in the clarified juice in a concentration in the range of 0.01-
0.05%.
4. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the filtration of the juice is
carried out using a ceramic membrane with a pore size of 0.2 µm.
5. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the filtration is done at an
operating transmembrane pressure of 1-10 bars.
6. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the filtration of the juice is
done at a temperature of 20-40°C.
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7. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the clarified juice as obtained
is packaged into packaging material selected from the group consisting of
glass bottles, lacquered aluminium cans and double ply poly aluminium
laminated standi tetrapacks and then pasteurized to increase the life of the
juice.
8. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the filtered juice is filled into
sterile glass bottles and pasteurized for 1-3 minutes.
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Description

CA 02480101 2004-09-22
WO 03/079823 PCT/IN02/00065
PROCESS FOR PREPARING READY-TO-DRINK SHELF STABLE SUGARCANE
JUICE BEVERAGE
Field of the invention
The present invention relates to an improved process for the preparation of
ready-to-
drink, shelf stable sugarcane juice beverage. The process, in particular,
describes the method
or preparation of juice using a membrane-processing unit and subsequent
pasterurization.
Background of the invention
Sugarcane contains 18-20% solids and the juice obtained from it is a popular
beverage. This natural product is reported to impart health benefits to the
consumers.
However, the major problem encountered is the lack of hygiene during crushing
operation
resulting in the contamination of the juice with a heavy load of micro-
organisms which arises
due to improper cleaning of the sugarcanes and handling of the finished
product. Raw
sugarcane juice is a carbohydrate-rich, low acid food and is therefore
susceptible to the
growth of molds and yeasts, of spoilage bacteria and also of pathogenic
bacteria. Therefore,
such freshly crushed juice cannot be preserved even for a few hours as it is
known to fennent
very quickly.
Several attempts have been made by many to develop a process for preserving
sugarcane juice. Yet there is no knowledge/information regarding its
manufacture and sale in
any form of packaged material commercially. There is also no published
information / patent
available on processing of sugarcane juice using microfiltration employing
membranes.
Processing and preservation of flavoured sugarcane juice was attempted in
CFTRI
(Shankaranarayana, M.L. Abraham, K.O. and Raghavan, B. CFTRI Annual Report,
1986-87,
p.70) but with limited success. The drawback with the product was browning and
formation
of off flavor not acceptable to consumers believed to be due to the low
pasteurization
temperature- (70°C) for longer duration ( 10 min).
Attempts have been made to clarify sugarcane juice for various applications.
There
are a few patents relating to the preparation of sugarcane juice for
manufacture of sugar.
US patent (Kwok Robert J, Lancrenon Xavier and Theoleyre Marc-Andre, US
5,902,409, May 1999) and US patent (Kwok Robert J, Lancrenon Xavier and
Theoleyre
Marc-Andre, US 5,554,227, Nov. 1993) disclose a process for the manufacture of
crystallized
sugar from an aqueous sugarcane juice. The main objective of the cited patents
was to
concentrate the sugarcane juice to give a crystal sugar and molasses and not
to develop a
process for ready-to-drink, shelf stable, sugarcane juice beverage.
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WO 03/079823 PCT/IN02/00065
US patent (Hartmann Eduard, CH, US 5,252,350, Oct. 1993) discloses a process
for
clarifying liquids, particularly raw juice from grapes and berries or other
fruits and vegetables
by ultrafiltration (U/F) microfiltration (MF). However, the pretreatment
procedure required
for berries like grapes is different from that required for sugarcanes and the
juice is not
pasteurized after UF/MF clarification.
US patent (Ferguson Robert R and Walker James B, US 4,933,197, June 1990)
discloses a process for preparing a storage stable clarified serum from food
juice in two
stages using ultrafiltration and micro filtration. In the first stage, flavour
and aroma
components are separated and in the second stage the microorganisms by using
two different
pore sizes of the membrane. The two streams are later remixed to obtain a
flavour-rich and
aroma-rich microorganism free juice. The drawback of this process is the
adoption of two
stages of membrane processing which increases the cost of production and the
chances of
post-process contamination during filling into containers.
Objects of the invention
The main object of the present invention is to provide an improved process for
the
preparation of ready-to-drink shelf stable sugarcane juice beverage.
Another object of the invention is to clarify the sugarcane juice using micro-
filtration
technique.
Yet another object of the invention is to incorporate a heteropolysaccharide
in the
clarified juice to provide a homogeneous beverage.
Another object of the invention is to provide a ginger flavoured clarified
sugarcane
juice in ready to drink shelf stable form.
Summary of the invention
The above and other objects of the invention are achieved by the process of
the
invention wherein or preparation of juice is done using a membrane-processing
unit and
subsequent pasterurization.
Accordingly the present invention provides a process for the preparing ready-
to-drink
shelf stable sugarcane juice beverage comprising:
a. soaking the cleaned canes in a tank containing potassium meta.bi-sulphate
at about 0.1%
concentration and citric acid at about 0.01% concentration for a period of 2-4
h,
b. washing the canes with plain water obtained from the above treatment and
crushing the
canes using a mechanical device to obtain the juice having 18-20° Brix.
c. diluting the juice to 14-16° Brix and adding an organic acid at a
concentration of 0.1 -
0.5%,
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d. filtering the above juice using a microfiltration unit employing a ceramic
membrane,
e. filling the juice into any of the packaging material as stated above and
pasteurizing the
same to obtain a clarified shelf stable sugarcane juice beverage.
In one embodiment of the invention, the clarified sugarcane juice is
homogenized
using a heteropolysaccharide in a concentration of 0.01- 0.10%.
In another embodiment of the invention, ginger oleoresin is incorporated in
the
clarified juice in a concentration in the range of 0.01 - 0.05%.
In another embodiment of the invention, filtration of the juice is carried out
using a
synthetic or natural membrane similar to ceramic membrane with a pore size of
0.2 ~,m.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the filtration is done at an
operating
transmembrane pressure of 1-10 bars.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the filtration of the juice is done
at a
temperature of 20-40°C.
In yet another embodiment of the invention, the clarified juice as obtained is
packaged
into material chosen from glass bottles, lacquered aluminium cans and double
ply poly
aluminium laminated standi tetrapacks and then pasteurized to increase the
life ofthe juice.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the filtered juice is filled
into sterile
glass bottles and pasteurized for 1-3 minutes.
Detailed description of the invention
The process of the invention relies primarily on a combination of
ultrafiltration and
pasteurization to achieve a ready to drink shelf table sugarcane juice. The
process comprises
soaking the cleaned canes in a tank containing potassium meta bisulphate at
about 0.1%
concentration and citric acid at about 0.01% concentration for a period of 2-4
h. The canes
are then washed with plain water and crushed to obtain the juice having 18-
20° Brix. The
juice is they diluted to 14-16° Brix and an organic acid added at a
concentration of 0.1 -
0.5%. The diluted juice is then filtered using a microfiltration unit
employing a ceramic
membrane and filled into packaging material and pasteurized to obtain a
clarified shelf stable
sugarcane juice beverage. A heteropolysaccharide additive can be added in a
concentration of
0.01- 0.10% to the clarified juice to impart body and mouthfeel to the
beverage.
Any desired additional flavour such as ginger oleoresin can be added before
pasteurization to impart additional flavour to the clarified juice. Such
additional flavours are
normally added in a concentration in the range of 0.01 - 0.05%.
Filtration of the juice is carried out using a synthetic or natural membrane
similar to
ceramic membrane with a pore size of 0.2 ~,m. The filtration is done at an
operating
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transmembrane pressure of 1-10 bars. The temperature of the filtration step is
preferably in
the range of 20-40°C.
The clarified juice as obtained is packaged into material chosen from glass
bottles,
lacquered aluminium cans and double ply poly aluminium laminated standi
tetrapacks and
then pasteurized to increase the life of the juice. For example, the filtered
juice is filled into
sterile glass bottles and pasteurized for 1-3 minutes.
The process for the preparation of shelf stable sugarcane juice in bottles in
illustrated
in the following flow chart.
Sugarcane
Cleaning (rind scraping)
1
Pre-treatment (soaking)
1
Washing
1
Crushing (40-50% Juice yield)
Microfiltration
Acidification ~ ~ addition of heteropolysaccharide
1- And/or ginger oleoresin
Homogenization
1
Bottling
1
Pasteurization
Cooling to Room Temperature
The novelty of the process lies in the combined manner in which critical steps
such as
pre-treatment of the sugarcanes, filtering the juice using microfiltration,
followed by the
homogenization with a heteropolysaccharide, adding ginger flavour and filling
the juice into
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bottles or any other packaging materials and pasteurizing for a specified
period to obtain a
shelf stable sugarcane juice beverage. Microfiltration using membranes offers
many
advantages like low energy consumpation, low operation cost, no thermal damage
to heat
sensitive aroma components, improved product quality and microbially safe
product.
Microfiltration of sugarcane juice resulted in increased juice clarity, better
retention of
flavour due to removal of suspended solids, colloidal materials, waxes and
high molecular
weight polysaccharides from the fresh juice without any chemical and heat
treatment.
However, addition of the heteropolysaccharide restored the much needed
homogeneous
cloudy appearance and mouth feel to the beverage, without affecting the
flavour.
The following examples are given by way of illustration of the present
invention and
therefore should not be construed to limit the scope of the present invention.
Example 1
75 kg sugarcanes were cleaned with water and the outer skin scraped manually
with a
knife. The scraped sugarcanes were soaked in 0.1% potassium metabisulphite
solution mixed
with 0.01 % citric acid in 100L water for 2 hours. The canes were removed,
drained off water,
washed with fresh water and then crushed using a motorized crusher with three
passes. About
30 liters of juice was collected. This juice was filtered using
microflltration unit [SCT P
1960, Techniques Industrielles Appliques, Bollene, France] equipped with a
ceramic
membrane of 0.2 um at an operating pressure of 2 bars, at a temperature of 29-
30°C and a
mean permeate flux of 80 + 5 kg/h/ma for 60 minutes. It was mixed with 0.25%
citric acid,
filled into 200 mL capacity sterile glass bottles with a headspace of 10 mL,
crowned and
pasteurized at 95 + 2°C for 2 min.
Example 2
The clarified sugarcane juice was obtained as per the procedure described in
Example
-1. The juice was mixed with 0.25% citric acid and a heteropolysaccharide
(0.05%) and
homogenized. The prepared beverage was filled in sterile glass bottles as
mentioned in
Example 1 and pasteurized at a temperature of 95 ~ 2°C for 3 min.
Example 3
The clarified sugarcane juice was obtained as per the procedure described in
Example
-1. The juice was mixed with 0.25% citric acid, ginger oleoresin (0.017%) and
homogenized
with Tween 60. Subsequently, the juice was filled into 200 mL capacity sterile
glass bottles
with a headspace of 10 mL, crowned and pasteurized at 95 + 2°C for 2
min.
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