Optimize the color of orange juice.

It is generally recognized that the color of orange juice is a quality that is noticed by the consumer. The most natural way of improving the color of orange juice is to add other juices, which provide a more intense coloration. For instance, U.S. legislation allows for the addition of up to 10% of mandarin juice to orange juice to improve its color.

Researchers in Spain compared the color characteristics of juices from 11 mandarin cultivars currently being grown in Spain. Experimental results indicated that only the green-red coordinate, a*, of the orange juices can be improved by adding mandarin juice.

The mandarin cultivar that provided a juice with the highest value of a* was the Clementine. Once this selection was made, investigators studied the impact of adding mandarin juice at different ratios, up to 10%, on the color characteristics of orange juice. Values of the a* coordinate went from 5.50 for pure orange juice to 6.29 for a mixture of 90% orange juice plus 10% of mandarin juice.

Hedonic tests proved that regular juice consumers preferred the color of mandarin juice to that of orange juice. They liked the color of the juice mixture containing 10% mandarin juice better than that containing 3% mandarin juice.

Making orange juice more attractive to consumers is helpful. The benefits of orange juice are many. Orange juice naturally contains more than 60 phytonutrients, many of them flavonoids. Scientists believe these plant-derived components are intimately involved in fighting cellular damage, a common pathway for cancer, aging and a variety of diseases.

According to recent USDA surveys, the average calcium intake for young women and men is below the recommended amounts. The average calcium intake by women 20 to 29 years of age is about 778 milligrams per day, and the average calcium intake by men 20 to 29 years of age is 1075 milligrams. Approximately 25% of women over the age of 50 suffer from osteoporosis caused by not consuming enough calcium and other bone-healthy nutrients on a daily basis.

Further information. Angel A. Carbonell-Barrachina, Departamento Tecnologia Agroalimentaria, Universidad Miguel Hernandez, Carretera de Beniel, km 3.2, 03312 Orihuela, Alicante, Spain; phone:[phone]; fax: [phone]; email: [e-mail].