Apple juice as a functional beverage: Trend in emerging technologies and consumer demand

Abstract

Consumer preference for apple juice is due to cultural, regional, nutritional, functional, therapeutic and social factors. Some of the existing research in this area of the food industry is found in this study. The position of apple juice from various perspectives and the international classification of juices are therefore presented. The chapter entitled Apple as a raw material in the juice industry highlights apple varieties from the Dîmbovița Valley, Romania. Classic and emerging technologies in the juice industry show that pulsed electric fields, high pressure processing, enzymatic treatment, tangential filtration and classic techniques, suitable for continuous or discontinuous production flow can be used regardless of the addition. The advanced and classical methods of juice quality investigation are reviewed and their selection helps highlight the influence of functional additives. The variants of the presented drink combinations based on apple juice are: the combination with beetroot; added calcium, vitamin C and iron; fruit addition; tea polyphenols; smoothies with complex structure; addition of bee products. They can be the basis for future research of your own. The market outlook shows an increase in the consumer interest in natural functional beverages. The role of the variety selection, the juice extraction techniques, the analysis and the control methods in obtaining apple juice drinks with competitive and functional potential is thus highlighted. From an economic point of view, apple juice is an advantageous choice for Romania.