Juices are one of the most potent drinks consumed for healthy living. All the veggies or fruit juice satisfy your sweet tooth aptly, from apples to oranges and carrots to parsley. Aside from this, the subject matter is the pasteurization of the juices.
It is a pervasive discourse: does pasteurization kill nutrients? Moreover, the health community is still haggling over the ups and downs of pasteurized vs. unpasteurized juice. According to researchers, the treated juices are somewhat better than the untreated ones and vice versa.
Since the contradiction is quite evident, it has become a critical discussion in the whole public health sphere. Given that, several questions arise regarding the significance of pasteurized juice. If you’re curious about how this processed juice debate will turn out, you are at a suitable spot.
Contents
Pasteurized Juice – An in-depth Interpretation:
Some of you might not know the essential query: what is pasteurized juice? When a fruit or veggie juice is preheated at a substantial temperature before consuming it. A sizable serving of freshly squeezed juice may have harmful agents like bacteria and pathogens.
And most likely, these microbes will cause gut problems, i.e., bellyache, inflammation, food poisoning, etc. hence, to steer clear of every minute chance of pathogens invasion, pasteurization is carried out.
The pasteurization process kills a maximum number of foreign microbes. Because the pathogens are susceptible to high temperatures, it is kept higher because the juice will be utterly free from them.
Nutritional Value of Pasteurized Juice:
Although Pasteurized juice is quite like the unpasteurized juice yet, the former has the bare minimum of pathogens. The nutritional value of the treated juicing mixture is no less than the raw juice. It contains all the nutrient minerals like sugars, lipids, and electrolytes. In addition, processed juice is healthy, too, with no or fewer bacterial agents.
To elaborate on the potential impacts of processed juice, here is a nutrient content chart of pasteurized orange juice. Now you’ll get to know what a pasteurized juice holds within. Check out the description next.
Pasteurized Orange Juice – Nutritional value chart
An 8-ounce serving of pasteurized orange juice contains.
| Nutrition’s | Values |
| Calories | 110 Cal |
| Carbohydrates | 26 gm |
| Protein | 2gm |
| Sugars | 23 gm |
| Potassium | 450mg |
| Fat | 0 gm |
| Calcium | 101mg |
| Magnesium | 24mg |
| Folates | 60 mg |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.079 mg |
Besides, there are also disadvantages to consuming pasteurized juice. As compared to untreated juice, pasteurized juice has fewer antioxidants. Moreover, ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) is almost 50% less in this orange juice. Many enzymes, cofactors, and Vitamins, i.e., B12, B6, and folates, are lesser in this pasteurized juice.
How to Pasteurize Juice?
Juices pasteurization is very easy to easy-to-carry out. You can even try it at home. Check whether the purchased juice container is labeled as pasteurized or not. If it is not pasteurized, then you can do it yourself. Additionally, you can also sterilize the homemade juice quickly.
All you need is the considerable juice portion and a container to store it. However, for prolonged use, please keep it in a sanitized stockpot. Follow the given instructions for better pasteurization results.
Directions:
- First,take a large container like a saucepan or any other pot. Rinse it with warm water thoroughly. Please put it on the stove and pour the juice into it.
- Afterward, let the juicy mixture heat up for a while. Meanwhile, you must stir the mixture continuously. Another method for heating is double boiling. Place two pots, one above the other. Fill the lower one with water and let the juice heat up through steam.
- Check the temperature of the mixture while heating it. On that account, you can use digital food or kitchenette thermometer.
- If the juice temperature is up to 71 °C, pasteurization is at its top tier. Bear in mind that juice should be simmering instead of boiling at this temperature.
- When the mixture is heated duly, cool it down for a while. Then, wash the container with hot water. Add cheery on top and boil the container for 15 minutes and lids.
- After cleaning the container, fill it with the juice. Cover the container with the lid and store it for future use.
Pasteurized vs. Unpasteurized Juice – Which Juice is Wholesome?
The main difference between both as the way these are treated. their raw juices have some negatives and positives. During pasteurization, excessive heat destroys the essential nutrients. Likewise, Vitamin C also knocks down when exposed to dry heat. So, pasteurization benefits only when the temperature is controlled.
The untreated juice contains unhealthy microbes that can invade the mid-gut. Also, the untreated juice primarily contains E. coli and Cryptosporidium bacteria. These harmful pathogens may settle down as parasites and lead to terrible inflammatory bowel diseases. On that account, it is inevitable to kill these bacteria before drinking the juice.
As a result, pasteurized juice is the real champ for wholesome natural drinks. It won’t only reduce the risk of food poisoning but also cater to extended use. According to dietician experts, consuming treated juice once a week is a productive step towards a healthy lifestyle. The immune system works exceptionally well with the treated juice. The long and short of it, pasteurized juice is valuable to consume. However, it just lacks a few nutrients within.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, it is crystal clear that pasteurized juice wins the whole discourse as raw juice is believed to be packed with harmful agents, so it will be worthwhile to sterilize before you consume it. Even though processed juice has low levels of Vitamins and minerals, it won’t be too bad to set it aside. Every store-bought juice can come in a pre-pasteurized form. Yet you can also sterilize the untread juice through pressure and heat sterilization. In this way, you can store them for quite a long time. Consequently, keep your hygiene before anything else. Always drink fruit and veggie drinks after you purify them thoroughly.
