Due to its characteristic aroma and taste, orange juice belongs to the most demanded fruit juices in Europe and in the US. To guarantee its availability throughout the year, the juice is often concentrated to obtain a concentrate and aroma fractions, which are finally used to manufacture juice from concentrate by remixing and addition of water. Another option is storage at low temperatures in aseptic tanks to obtain the NFC juice. However, despite storage at low temperatures, even after short periods, a loss in freshness and changes in the aroma profile is often observed. Numerous investigations were already performed to clarify such changes in the organoleptic properties of orange juice during processing and storage on a molecular basis. However, up to now, in particular the fate of important juice odorants, such as aldehydes, still remains open. To get an insight into the changes in key aroma compounds, changes in the concentrations of selected key aroma compounds were monitored by application of the Sensomics concept over a period of one year. To clarify the reason for the degradation of e.g., saturated aldehydes as well as of 1-pentene-3-one, systematic model studies were carried out using isotopically labelled precursors. The structures of the new degradation products identified by means of LC-MS/MS and NMR experiments will be discussed in detail.

Changes in key orange juice aroma compounds during chilled storage of NFC juice

252nd National Meeting (2016)

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