How is Orange Juice Made
Orange juice is one of the most popular beverages in the world and in the United States more than 2.5 billion liters are consumed each year. It is made from extracting the juice from oranges via a variety of methods. The main methods are extracting the fresh juice and by concentrating and reconstituting the juice. Orange juice is used to refer to the juice made with all of these types of production. However, the different processes can change the flavor of the juice and manufacturers will often label their juice with the type of production method for this reason. Let’s take a look at two of the most common ways that orange juice is made commercially.
Fresh orange juice
The first step of the process is to wash the oranges. After this a machine sorts them by size and they are sent to be juiced. The oranges are impaled on a series of metal prongs, which removes the juice and removes the seeds and peel. Depending on the type of orange juice being produced, the juice is then either bottled or is sent to add the pulp back into the juice before bottling. It is then tested for quality and shipped. This type of orange juice is generally known as fresh orange juice.
The following video shows fresh orange juice being made:
Reconstituted orange juice
Reconstituted juice is made by squeezing the oranges and then removing the water with heat to create orange juice concentrate. This concentrate can be stored for a few months and turned back into orange juice by adding water. This method was designed to provide the availability of orange juice throughout the year. It is also cheaper to transport because the concentrate can be sent to other factories around the country where it can be turned into orange juice.
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