Apple juice

Apple juice is a fruit juice made by the maceration and pressing of an Apple. The resulting expelled juice may be further treated by enzymatic and centrifugal clarification to remove the starch and pectin, which holds fine particulate in suspension, and then pasteurized for packaging in glass, metal or aseptic processing system containers, or further treated by dehydration processes to a concentrate.

Due to the complex and costly equipment required to extract and clarify juice from apples in large volume, apple juice is normally produced commercially. In the United States, unfiltered fresh apple juice is made by smaller operations in areas of high apple production, in the form of unclarified apple cider. Apple juice is one of the most common fruit juices in the world, with world production led by China, Poland, the United States, and Germany.

Apples used for apple juice are usually harvested between September and mid-November in the Northern Hemisphere and between February to mid April in the Southern Hemisphere. A common cultivar used for apple juice is the McIntosh. Approximately two medium McIntosh apples produce around 200mL of juice. After the apples are picked, they are washed and transported to the processing facility. The apples are then pressed and juiced right away to avoid spoilage. Depending on the company and end-product, the apples can be processed in different ways before pressing. Apple juice is then filtered, with the quantity of solid particles remaining partly defining the difference between apple juice and apple cider.

Vitamin C is sometimes added by fortification, because content is variable, and much of that is lost in processing. Vitamin C also helps to prevent oxidation of the product. Other vitamin concentrations are low, but apple juice does contain various mineral nutrients, including boron, which may promote healthy bones.

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Wikipedia