The vitamin C content of orange juice packed in an oxygen scavenger material

A storage study of orange juice packed in oxygen scavenging (OS) film and oxygen barrier film was conducted to determine the extent of ascorbic acid loss due to oxygen as a function of time and temperature. The initial concentration of ascorbic acid in the orange juice was 374 mg/l and this was found to decrease by 74 and 104 mg/l after 3 days of storage at 25 °C in the OS and oxygen barrier film, respectively. This rapid loss in ascorbic acid correlated well with the amount of oxygen initially present in the headspace and that dissolved in the juice. The loss of ascorbic acid also correlated with an increase in the browning of the juice, where the extent of browning was found to be lower for the juice packed in the OS film than that packed in the oxygen barrier material. The rapid removal of oxygen was found to be an important factor in sustaining a higher concentration of ascorbic acid over long storage times.