초록 ▼

Orange juice products and their method of production are varied in their naturally occurring combination of sinking solids and serum. Included is separating sinking solids from serum in order to prepare the orange juice products. Included are orange juice products which mimic not from concentrate (N

Orange juice products and their method of production are varied in their naturally occurring combination of sinking solids and serum. Included is separating sinking solids from serum in order to prepare the orange juice products. Included are orange juice products which mimic not from concentrate (NFC) blends of freshly extracted and stored orange juices from different cultivars by adding separated sinking solids from one of the cultivars and reducing the amount of whole juice from that cultivar which is incorporated into the NFC blend.

대표청구항 ▼

The invention claimed is: 1. A process for preparing not from concentrate (NFC) orange juice from components of differing orange fruit, comprising: extracting orange juice from orange fruit during the harvest season for such fruit to provide a whole orange juice; separating said whole orange juice

The invention claimed is: 1. A process for preparing not from concentrate (NFC) orange juice from components of differing orange fruit, comprising: extracting orange juice from orange fruit during the harvest season for such fruit to provide a whole orange juice; separating said whole orange juice into a serum phase and a sinking solids phase; storing said sinking solids phase under conditions that retard its deterioration during long term storage; and combining said stored solids phase with a recently extracted whole orange juice of a different cultivar than said whole orange juice, whereby the cost of said NFC orange juice is reduced while the overall sensory quality of said recently extracted juice is at least maintained. 2. The process in accordance with claim 1, wherein the whole orange juice which is separated and which provides said stored sinking solids phase has superior sensory properties when compared with the recently extracted whole orange juice, said recently extracted whole orange juice being inferior in sensory properties compared to the whole orange juice which is separated. 3. The process in accordance with claim 2, wherein said superior juice is extracted from Valencia orange fruit and said recently extracted inferior whole orange juice is extracted from early/mid season orange fruit. 4. The process in accordance with claim 3, wherein the early/mid season fruit is Hamlin orange fruit. 5. The process in accordance with claim 1, wherein the whole orange juice which is separated and which provides said stored sinking solids phase has inferior sensory properties when compared with the recently extracted whole orange juice, said recently extracted whole orange juice being superior in sensory properties compared to the whole orange juice which is separated. 6. The process in accordance with claim 5, wherein said inferior juice is extracted from early/mid season orange fruit and said recently extracted superior whole orange juice is extracted from Valencia orange fruit. 7. The process in accordance with claim 1, wherein said combining further includes incorporating a stored orange juice source other than said sinking solids phase. 8. The process in accordance with claim 7, wherein said other stored orange juice source is selected from the group consisting of a stored whole orange juice, a stored serum phase and a stored sinking solids phase different from the sinking solids phase from said extracting, separating and storing procedure. 9. The process in accordance with claim 8, wherein said stored serum phase is of the same type of whole orange juice of said extracting and separating procedure. 10. The process in accordance with claim 7, wherein the stored orange juice source from the combining procedure is a stored Valencia source, and said recently extracted whole orange juice is an early/mid season NFC orange juice. 11. The process in accordance with claim 1, wherein said overall sensory quality is selected from the group consisting of an increase in the positive aromatic attributes of total orange, raw orange or expressed orange oil; an increase in the basic taste sweet attribute; an increase in positive feeling factors; a decrease in aromatic cooked orange, candy/artificial orange, other fruit, cooked vegetable and microbiological attributes; a reduction in sour or bitter basic tastes; and combinations thereof. 12. The process in accordance with claim 1, wherein said combining of said stored sinking solids phase incorporates between about 2 and about 25 volume percent thereof, based upon the total volume of the orange juice product. 13. The process in accordance with claim 1, further including, prior to said combining, removing sinking solids from said recently extracted whole orange juice. 14. The process in accordance with claim 13, wherein between about 2 and about 25 volume percent of said sinking solids of the recently extracted orange juice are combined, based upon the total weight orange juice product. 15. A process for preparing a not from concentrate (NFC) orange juice product, comprising: extracting orange juice from orange fruit during the harvest season for such fruit to provide a whole orange juice; separating said orange juice into a serum phase and a sinking solids phase; storing said serum phase under conditions that retard its deterioration during long term storage; providing a recently extracted whole orange juice from a different cultivar than said orange juice and separating same into a serum phase and a sinking solids phase; and combining said stored serum phase with said recently extracted sinking solids phase, whereby the cost of preparing said NFC orange juice product is reduced while the overall sensory quality of said stored serum phase is at least maintained. 16. The process in accordance with claim 15, wherein the stored serum phase is from juice having superior properties, and said freshly extracted solids phase is from juice having inferior properties, when said superior and inferior properties are compared with each other. 17. The process in accordance with claim 16, wherein said superior stored serum phase is from Valencia orange fruit, and said inferior freshly extracted sinking solids are from early/mid season fruit. 18. The process in accordance with claim 15, wherein the stored serum phase is from juice having inferior properties, and said freshly extracted solids phase is from juice having superior properties, when said inferior and superior properties are compared with each other. 19. The process in accordance with claim 18, wherein said inferior stored serum phase is from early/mid season orange fruit, and said superior freshly extracted sinking solids are from Valencia fruit. 20. A process for preparing a not from concentrate (NFC) orange juice product, comprising: extracting orange juice from orange fruit during the harvest season for such fruit to provide a whole orange juice; separating said whole orange juice into a serum phase and a sinking solids phase; storing said sinking solids phase under conditions that retard its deterioration during long term storage; providing a recently extracted orange juice from a different cultivar; separating from said recently extracted orange juice at least some of its sinking solids to provide a reduced-solids freshly extracted orange juice; and combining said freshly extracted solids-reduced orange juice with said stored sinking solids phase to thereby prepare the NFC orange juice product. 21. The process in accordance with claim 20, wherein the cost of the components of the combining procedure is lower than the total cost of said unseparated whole orange juice when stored for the same length of time as its stored sinking solids phase, and whereby the overall sensory quality of the NFC orange juice product is at least equivalent to one combining said unseparated whole orange juice with said recently extracted whole orange juice. 22. The process in accordance with claim 20, wherein said stored sinking solids phase was separated from Valencia juice, and said freshly extracted solids-reduced orange juice was prepared from early/mid season orange juice fruit. 23. The process in accordance with claim 20, wherein said whole orange juice separated into said stored sinking solids has superior sensory qualities compared with said freshly extracted orange juice, and wherein up to about 25 volume percent of said stored sinking solids phase is added to the NFC orange juice product, and between about 2 and about 25 volume percent of the sinking solids of said freshly extracted orange juice were removed therefrom, based upon the total volume of the NFC orange juice product. 24. The process in accordance with claim 23, wherein the volume percent of stored sinking solids added is less than the volume percent of sinking solids removed from the freshly extracted juice, based upon the total volume of the NFC orange juice product. 25. The process in accordance with claim 20, wherein one of said whole orange juice which is separated and which provides said stored sinking solids phase and said recently extracted orange juice which provides said reduced-solids freshly extracted orange juice has superior sensory properties when compared with the other, and wherein a volume percent contributed by said one of said stored sinking solids phase and said reduced-solids freshly extracted orange juice having superior sensory properties, based on the total volume percent of said NFC orange juice, is combined in an amount less than a volume percent of said whole orange juice of like superior sensory properties that is required in a whole juice NFC blend having equivalent sensory quality. 26. A not from concentrate (NFC) orange juice product comprising: from about 75 to about 98 volume percent of a recently extracted whole juice, based upon the total volume of the juice product; from about 2 to about 25 volume percent, based upon the total volume of the juice product, of a sinking solids phase which had been separated from a previously harvested orange juice and stored under conditions that retard deterioration; and said sinking solids phase originated from an orange fruit cultivar which is different from the orange fruit cultivar of the recently extracted whole orange juice. 27. The orange juice product in accordance with claim 26, wherein said recently extracted whole juice is early/mid season juice, and said stored sinking solids phase was separated from Valencia orange juice. 28. A not from concentrate (NFC) orange juice product comprising: from about 75 to about 98 volume percent of a recently extracted early/mid season orange juice from which about 2 to 100 volume percent of its sinking solids had been removed, based upon the total volume of the juice product; and from about 2 to about 25 volume percent, based upon the total volume of the juice product, of a sinking solids phase which had been separated from a previously harvested Valencia orange juice and stored under conditions that retard deterioration. 29. A not from concentrate (NFC) orange juice product comprising: from about 10 to about 90 volume percent of a whole juice, based on the total volume of the juice product; from about 90 to about 10 volume percent, based upon the total volume of the juice product, of a serum phase separated from an orange juice of a cultivar different from that of said whole juice; and at least one of said whole juice or said serum phase were stored from previously extracted orange juice. 30. The product in accordance with claim 29, wherein said serum phase is from Valencia orange juice. 31. The product in accordance with claim 29, wherein one of said whole juice and said orange juice from which said serum phase is separated has superior sensory properties when compared with the other, and wherein a volume percent contributed by said whole juice and said serum phase having superior sensory properties, based on the total volume percent of said NFC orange juice, is added in an amount less than a volume percent of a whole orange juice of like superior sensory properties that is required in a whole juice NFC blend having equivalent sensory quality. 32. A process for preparing not from concentrate orange juice product, comprising: extracting orange juice from a first orange fruit during a first harvest season to form a first whole orange juice; separating said first whole orange juice into a first serum phase and a first sinking solids phase; storing said first serum phase and said first sinking solids phase for at least a period of time that extends beyond the first harvest season under conditions that retard deterioration of said first serum phase and said first sinking solids phase, wherein said stored first serum phase is suitable for combining with a later extracted whole orange juice after storage over a long term; providing a recently extracted orange juice from a second orange fruit during a second harvest season; separating from said recently extracted orange juice at least some of its sinking solids to provide a reduced-solids freshly extracted orange juice; and combining said freshly extracted solids-reduced orange juice with said first stored sinking solids phase to thereby prepare the NFC orange juice product, wherein one of said first whole orange juice which is separated and which provides said first stored sinking solids phase and said recently extracted orange juice which provides said reduced-solids freshly extracted orange juice has superior sensory properties when compared with the other, and wherein a volume percent contributed by said one of said first stored sinking solids phase and said reduced-solids freshly extracted orange juice having superior sensory properties, based on the total volume percent of said NFC orange juice, is combined in an amount less than a volume percent of a whole orange juice of like superior sensory properties that is required in a whole juice NFC blend having equivalent sensory quality. 33. A process for preparing not from concentrate (NFC) orange juice from components of differing orange fruit, comprising: extracting orange juice from orange fruit during the harvest season for such fruit to provide a whole orange juice; separating said whole orange juice into a serum phase and a sinking solids phase; storing said sinking solids phase under conditions that retard its deterioration during long term storage; and combining said stored solids phase with a recently extracted whole orange juice of a different cultivar than said whole orange juice, wherein one of said whole orange juice which is separated and which provides said stored sinking solids phase and said recently extracted whole orange juice has superior sensory properties when compared with the other, and wherein a volume percent contributed by said one of said stored sinking solids phase and said recently extracted whole orange juice having superior sensory properties, based on the total volume percent of said NFC orange juice, is added in an amount less than a volume percent of said whole orange juice of like superior sensory properties that is required in a whole juice NFC blend having equivalent sensory quality. 34. A process for preparing not from concentrate (NFC) orange juice from components of differing orange fruit, comprising: extracting orange juice from orange fruit during the harvest season for such fruit to provide a whole orange juice; separating said whole orange juice into a serum phase and a sinking solids phase; storing said sinking solids phase under conditions that retard its deterioration during long term storage; and combining said stored sinking solids phase and a stored orange juice source other than said sinking solids phase with a recently extracted whole orange juice, wherein at least one of said whole orange juice which is separated and which provides said stored sinking solids phase and said other stored orange juice source and said recently extracted whole orange juice is of a different cultivar and has superior sensory properties when compared with the other, and wherein a combined volume percent contributed by said at least one of said stored sinking solids and said other stored orange juice source and said recently extracted whole orange juice having superior sensory properties, based on the total volume percent of said NFC orange juice, is added in an amount less than a volume percent of said whole orange juice of like superior sensory properties that is required in a whole juice NFC blend having equivalent sensory quality. 35. A process for preparing a not from concentrate (NFC) orange juice product comprising: extracting orange juice from orange fruit during the harvest season for such fruit to provide a whole orange juice; separating said orange juice into a serum phase and a sinking solids phase; storing said serum phase under conditions that retard its deterioration during long term storage; providing a recently extracted whole orange juice and separating same into a serum phase and a sinking solids phase; and combining said stored serum phase with said recently extracted sinking solids phase, wherein one of said whole orange juice which is separated and which provides said stored serum phase and said recently extracted whole orange juice has superior sensory properties when compared with the other, and wherein a volume percent contributed by said one of said stored sinking solids phase and said recently extracted whole orange juice having superior sensory properties, based on the total volume percent of said NFC orange juice, is added in an amount less than a volume percent of said whole orange juice of like superior sensory properties that is required in a whole juice NFC blend having equivalent sensory quality.