Chemical and organoleptic evaluation of membrane filtered apple juice produced from Manitoba grown apples and crabapples

Abstract

A two year study was undertaken to assess the chemical and organoleptic qualities of one crabapple and nine apple cultivars grown on the Canadian Prairies for commercial production of apple juice. Considerable variation was observed among the cultivars for moisture (82.24% - 88.19%), acids (0.49% - 1.09%), sugars (9.00% - 13.84%) and phenolics (0.31% - 0.53%). A pilot plant scale filtration assembly was utilized in this study. Pectinase concentration of 0.15%(w/v) was most efficient in clarification of raw apple juice. The enzyme clarified apple juice was pumped through a cartridge membrane filtration system ranging from 106 to 0.22u for clarification, polishing and sterilization. The cartridge membrane filters reduced the turbidity of the juice from 106 to 0.3 JTU (Jackson Turbidity Unit). Yeast and mold counts were nil on the final product. Organoleptic studies revealed that perceived sweetness increased as the sugar-acid ratio increased, while sourness increased with a decrease in sugar-acid ratio. Breakey and Collet cultivars had the acceptable sugar-acid ratio required to make single cultivar juice. The other cultivars were less suitable due to wider range of compositional differences. The blended juices prepared from the sample juices compared very well with commercial apple juice.