"Brewing Technology" Processing technology for wild jujube juice and wild jujube fruit juice

1. Production of Prickly Pear Juice

1. Process flow. Prickly pear juice → Ingredients → Filtration → Sterilization → Bottling → Sealing → Labeling → Finished product.

2. Key operation points. (1) Prickly pear juice: The raw juice stored after heat treatment can be clarified using siphoning, followed by high-speed separation with a stainless steel separator or filtration through a press filter; remove suspended solids and sediments from the juice. (2) Ingredients: For 100 kg of prickly pear juice, 17 kg of raw juice, 1.066 kg of citric acid, and 60.64 kg of sugar are needed. (3) Method: First, soak the sugar in boiling water, then add lemon and raw juice, heating the juice to 85°C and maintaining it for a few minutes. (4) Filtration: The juice is filtered again through a filter machine. (5) Sterilization: The filtered juice is sterilized using a high-temperature instantaneous sterilizer, with the temperature controlled at 105-110°C for 3 seconds. (6) Bottling: The sterilized juice is immediately transferred to the bottling machine for filling. (7) Sealing: The packaging containers are pre-cleaned and strictly disinfected, and the juice is sealed immediately after filling. (8) Labeling: After the filled and sealed products pass inspection, they are labeled. (9) Finished product: Stored in the warehouse for storage and sale.

3. Product quality standards. Product quality: A light brownish-yellow transparent viscous liquid, allowing for a small amount of sediment after prolonged standing, retains the unique flavor of natural prickly pear when diluted 5-6 times, sweet and sour to taste, with no off-flavors, soluble solids not less than 62%, total acidity not less than 1.1%, and vitamin C not less than 300 mg/mL.

2. Production technology of prickly pear raw juice

1. Process flow. Raw materials → Selection → Cleaning → Crushing → Pressing → Coarse filtration → Heat treatment → Cooling → Bottling → Storage → Semi-finished product.

2. Key operation points. (1) Raw materials: Prickly pears should reach over 90% ripeness, showing a color change from green to yellow-green or yellow, with a strong fragrance, crisp texture, and high juice content. Remove under-ripe, moldy, rotten, and insect-damaged fruits during selection. (2) Cleaning: Wash the fruits thoroughly with running water. (3) Crushing: Prickly pears have spines, many hard seeds, and coarse cellulose, making them difficult to crush manually; a hammer mill or crusher can be used. (4) Pressing: Use a juice extractor, with a juice yield of 50%-65%. (5) Coarse filtration: Use a centrifuge or cloth bag to remove coarse residues and suspended solids from the juice as much as possible. (6) Heat treatment: Use a heat exchanger to sterilize the juice at a high temperature instantly. (7) Cooling: After heat treatment, cool immediately, reaching room temperature within 15-20 minutes. (8) Bottling: The heat-treated juice is immediately filled into clean and strictly disinfected large containers or cans, sealed as soon as they are full. (9) Storage: Store in a cool, ventilated place away from direct sunlight, allowing natural clarification for more than 15 days. (10) Semi-finished product: After 15 days of clarification, separate immediately to remove sediments.

3. Brewing technology of prickly pear wine

1. Process flow. Raw materials → Sorting → Cleaning → Crushing → Pressing → Coarse filtration → Clarification treatment → (Yeast solution) Fermentation → Tank separation → Component adjustment → Aging → Separation → Diatomaceous earth treatment → Separation → Gelatinization → Separation → Cooling → Filtration → Degassing → Bottling → Sealing → Sterilization → Cooling → Inspection → Finished product.

2. Key operation points. (1) Raw material requirements: Prickly pears should change from green to yellow, with a slight bitterness, strong sweetness, and aroma when harvested. The flesh should be thick, with a large edible portion, high juice yield, sweet and sour to taste, and high vitamin C content. Remove leaves, stems, and other debris, and process the harvested fruits on the same day. (2) Cleaning: Rinse thoroughly with running water. (3) Crushing: Use a hammer mill to crush, with a size of 2-4 mm preferred. (4) Pressing: After crushing, add an appropriate amount of potassium metabisulfite, generally not exceeding 10 g for 100 L. (5) Testing and adjustment: After juicing, test and add sulfur dioxide (30 mg/L) and white sugar syrup. (6) Fermentation: Add 5%-10% of artificially cultivated yeast, controlling the fermentation temperature at 25-28°C. (7) Tank storage: When the residual sugar in fermentation drops to 4-6 mg/L, no further temperature control is needed; wait for clarification, then separate in a tank (under oxygen-free conditions), adjusting the free sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the wine to 40-50 mg/L for storage. After 4 months, conduct physicochemical analysis and sensory tasting, keeping records and adjusting acidity. (8) Diatomaceous earth separation: Add an appropriate amount of diatomaceous earth (determined by small tests) to the qualified raw wine, stir, and separate after 24 hours. (9) Gelatinization: Test the gelatin content of the separated clear wine, perform gelatinization treatment, and separate, cooling the clear wine at 1-5°C for 5 days. (10) Filter the wine in a freezing chamber, and after the filtered wine passes sterilization and meets the requirements through microscopic inspection, proceed to bottling (containers and caps should be pre-disinfected).

3. Quality indicators. The finished prickly pear wine should be clear and transparent, with no suspended or sediment particles, light yellow or golden yellow; the finished product should have a pleasant and elegant original aroma of prickly pear and a harmonious wine aroma, with a rich, smooth, and refreshing taste, exhibiting the typical style of prickly pear wine, with no other off-aromas or off-flavors.

4. Physicochemical indicators. Alcohol content total sugar less than or equal to 4 g/L (calculated as glucose), total acidity 5.5-6.5 g/L (calculated as acetic acid), volatile acidity less than or equal to 0.7 g/L, total less than or equal to 250 mg/L, vitamin C 50-100 mg/L (calculated as reduced ascorbic acid).