Press release: natural preservation for fruit and juice based beverages
09 March 2010. Back
to overview
New from Purac: natural preservation for fruit and juice
based beverages
Gorinchem, The Netherlands, March
9th, 2010.
Purac introduces a new preservation product for the beverage
industry, PuraQ®
Xtend AX37. This is the latest addition to their
PuraQ portfolio of natural
food ingredient solutions. The product is specifically developed
for juice and juice-based beverages, and enables manufacturers to
produce high quality, delicious juice products in a 'natural'
way.
Alicyclobacillus is a spore-forming soil microorganism
that causes spoilage problems for the fruit juice industry.
Spoilage is an issue in apple, pear, orange, peach and white grape
juices. It also causes problems in juice blends, fruit juice based
drinks, tomato juice and canned tomatoes. In apple juice, for
example, the spoilage manifests itself as an off-flavor and
off-odor in both shelf-stable and refrigerated products. This
spoilage problem can be an expensive one for producers across the
globe, and has resulted in consumer complaints and even product
recalls over the past few years.
The Alicyclobacillus spores can survive most
pasteurization treatments. In fact, the heat treatment can even
activate the spores to start growing. Most contamination problems
only show up several days after bottling, which makes it difficult
to detect on time. Furthermore, the organisms tend to be resistant
to preservatives like sorbate and sulphite.
"With almost 80 years of experience in fermentation and
selling lactic acid and lactates to the food industry, Purac has
become an expert in food preservation. This heritage now forms the
ideal basis to innovate and develop new preservation solutions,
allowing the food manufacturers to keep up with the latest consumer
trends", says Ivo van der Linden, Category Manager Food
Preservation at Purac.
"Recent market surveys and research show that
Alicyclobacillus is a real problem in the juice industry.
The spoilage defect is not always identified by the producer, but
noticed clearly by customers, causing loss of brand image.
PuraQ Xtend AX37
tackles this problem head on, and provides the beverage industry
with the extra safe-guard necessary to ensure their product is of
high quality. Furthermore the use of PuraQ Xtend AX37, a natural ingredient,
allows the manufacturer to avoid the use of more rigorous methods
and so helps preserve the original flavor integrity of the
fruit."
Purac is increasing its innovation and product development
efforts to further expand its PuraQ portfolio. They are introducing new food
ingredient solutions for the industry, targeting food safety, shelf
life and flavor solutions in a wide variety of foods ranging from
beverages, dips and deli products to gravies and meats.