Grape Juice Concentration by Progressive Freeze Concentrator Sequence System

Concentration is a complex process that could change the physical and chemical conditions of a substance and significantly affects the quality of fruit juice. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of different operating parameters on the bioactive compounds retention and the concentration effectiveness of grape juice by using progressive freeze concentration (PFC). The concentration process performance was assessed through total phenolic content (TPC) increment and effective partition constant (K). This research was carried out by using progressive freeze concentrator sequence system (PFCSS), which has been proven to be able to operate efficiently. It was found that the most optimum operating condition occurred with a coolant temperature of −8C, circulation flowrate of 3000 mL/min operation time of 20 minutes and solution concentration of 8%Brix. The results suggest that PFC may contribute a great potential in concentrating grape juice, therefore could contribute to the economy of the juice industry.

Practical Applications

Nowadays, there is a growing interest on progressive freeze concentration (PFC) in juice concentration due to its several advantages. In this study, a process sequence of PFC is develop to acquire high performance system in terms of operation time, no intervention of human operator and most importantly production of high quality product, which is grape juice concentrate. Red globe grape is among the most cultivated, most commercially important and studied cultivars, including processing method in order to produce high quality juice. This study is focused on the preservation and concentration of grape juice by using progressive freeze concentrator sequence system (PFCSS). The results can be a guide in the determination of processing method that can be used in producing red globe grape juice with good quality and highest concentration of TPC and other bioactive compound.