L-Ascorbic Acid Stability in Orange Juice in TetraBrik Cartons

Application Note

Author
Linda Lloyd Agilent Technologies, Inc.

Introduction
In recent years the value of L-ascorbic acid in human nutrition has become increasingly apparent to health conscious consumers. This has led to an upsurge in the manufacture of soft drinks based on fruit juices containing ascorbic acid. Orange juice in TetraBrik cartons is one such example. In this product the juice is processed and packed aseptically to reduce thermal loads during manufacture. This note assesses the instability of L-ascorbic acid in reconstituted single strength orange juice in TetraBrik cartons stored at different temperatures. The effect of dissolved oxygen in the juice was also examined. Ion suppression reversed phase HPLC was used, with PLRP-S columns. PLRP-S is a rigid macroporous styrene/ divinylbenzene HPLC phase which is chemically stable with the acidic eluent.

Materials and Reagents

dissolved oxygen conc. (ppm)

The samples were ready to drink commercial orange juice without artificial flavors, colors, preservatives or added sugar. Samples were stored at different temperatures for differing lengths of time. Before analysis all samples were centrifuged at 10000 g for 45 minutes then filtered through a 0.45 m cellulose nitrate membrane.

Key 4 oC 20 oC 37 oC x 76 oC 105 oC

Conditions
Columns: Eluent: Flow rate: Detector:

2 x PLRP-S 100 5 m, 150 x 4.6 mm (p/n PL1111-3500) 0.2 M NaH2PO4, pH 2.14 0.5 mL/min UV, 268 nm

1 x x 0 x 10 20 30 40 storage period (days) 50 60

Materials and Reagents

Figure 1 shows the degradation of L-ascorbic acid over time, with concentrations varying from 60.4% after 64 days at 4 C to 3.6% after three days at 105 C. The marked fall in L-ascorbic acid seems to coincide with an initial drop in dissolved oxygen concentrations (Figure 2). This dramatic loss of oxygen appeared to correlate with the higher decomposition rate of the acid at the beginning of storage (Figure 3). It seems the degradation mechanism is initially aerobic but continues anaerobically at a lesser rate once the level of dissolved oxygen has reached equilibrium. The complete data set and analysis is available in Kennedy et al. (1992).
Key 4 oC 20 oC 37 oC x 76 oC 105 oC

Figure 2. Dissolved oxygen levels vs storage time in TetraBrik cartons at different temperatures.

320

L-ascorbic acid conc. (mg/L)

240 Key 4 oC 20 oC 37 oC x 76 oC 105 oC

160

80

320

0 0

x
1 2 3 dissolved oxygen conc. (ppm) 4

240 L-ascorbic acid conc.

Figure 3. Loss of L-ascorbic acid vs dissolved oxygen level.

160 x

80

0 0

x x 10 20 30 40 50 60

storage period (days) Figure 1. L-ascorbic acid concentration over time in orange juice in TetraBrik cartons at different storage temperatures.

Conclusion
Ion suppression HPLC using PLRP-S columns successfully revealed the decline in L-ascorbic acid content of reconstituted orange juice. The amount of dissolved oxygen at carton filling had a significant effect on the acids content., and the rate of oxygen consumption depended on the L-ascorbic acid content. Aerobic and anaerobic decomposition occurred in the same system.

Reference
Kennedy, JF, Rivera, ZS, Lloyd, LL, Warner, FP, Jumel, K (1992) L-ascorbic acid stability in aseptically processed orange juice in TetraBrik cartons and the effect of oxygen. Food Chem., 45, 327-331.

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This information is subject to change without notice. Agilent Technologies, Inc. 2011 Published in UK, May 9, 2011 5990-8161EN