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Ingredients & Composition

Welch’s is one of the most prominent and oldest makers of grape juice in North America. Therefore, Welch’s grape juice would be a good example of what a typical grape juice should consist of.

Welch’s 100% Grape Juice ingredients include grape juice from concentrate, grape juice, citric acid and ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Grape juice from concentrate means that excess water from the grapes was removed, making the juice more concentrated. This allows the juice to be compressed and frozen to make packaging and transporting easier. Water is then added to the juice before being sold. The grape juice comes from Concord grapes grown in North America; the entire grape is used (skin and seeds). A small amount of citric acid is naturally found in grapes. It is also additionally added for the tart taste. Ascorbic acid is also naturally found in grapes, and is additionally added because it is an antioxidant which helps prevent oxidation, leading to a longer storage life.

Welch’s 100% grape juice does not contain any added sugars, preservatives, colors, and artificial flavors. Each glass of Welch’s grape juice (4oz) contains at least 40 grapes, which is one serving of fruit.

General Production

Around mid-September, the grapes are harvested mechanically, using a grape harvesting machine (e.g. Chisholm-Ryder grape harvester), and placed in a bulk box that is transported separately by a tractor or truck. The harvested grapes are then delivered to the processing facility within 4 to 6 hours.^(p93)

A rotating perforated drum removes any stems and leaves that remain attached to the grapes. Once they are detached from the stems, the grapes are subsequently crushed and pass through the holes of the drum. Stems, leaves and other residuals continue along the drum to be removed as waste.^(p93) The crushed grapes are heated to 60°C (140°F) as they move through a shell and tube heat exchanger. A press aid (e.g. sterilized rice hulls, bleached Kraft paper, ground wood pulp) and a pectinase enzyme are two components that are both added to the grapes at this point for effective juice pressing. The mash of the grapes and press aid is pressed at high temperatures for maximal yield of colour and juice.^(p95) There are various types of pressing equipment that can be used for this process (screw, hydraulic, belt, and pneumatic).^(p96) Pressed juice and free run juice are held in slurry tanks. The press aid is added to the juice, serving as a filter when the juice undergoes rotary vacuum belt filtration to remove insoluble solids. The juice contains minimal insoluble solids (1% or lower) after filtration.^(p97-98) The filtered juice is heated to 85-88°C (185-190°F) for at least 1 minute and is then cooled to -1.1 - 0°C (30-32°F) before it is stored in tanks. The stored juice may undergo necessary re-pasteurization if there is any presence of alcohol, yeasts and moulds.^(98-99) Additional pectinase is added to speed up and simplify the final filtration process. This filtration process involves diatomaceous earth suspended in the grape juice as it passes through a pre-coated pad or plate. The latter two processes are intended to reduce or prevent sedimentation once the juice is bottled and stored for a long duration of time.^(p99-100)

There are other process alternatives that can be applied to the processing grape juice, including cold-pressing the juice, and adding sulfur dioxide to the juice.^(p101-104) The juice can be further processed by removing water to produce a pure concentrate that can be used in a variety of juice products.

Packaging & Storage

Hot filling is traditionally used to package grape juice. In this process, grape juice is heated to a minimum of 77-82 °C using a heat exchanger before the juice is poured into preheated containers made of materials such as glass or newer, heat resistant plastics. Glass presents a more high quality appearance, but can also be quite fragile and bulky compared to plastics. Pasteurization can also be used afterwards to prolong its shelf life by heating the juice to 85 °C for 3 min before cooling it down. At the highest quality of retention, unopened grape juice can be stored for 6-12 months unrefrigerated. After opening, grape juice can be stored for approximately 7-10 days in the refrigerator before spoilage occurs.

Aseptic processing can also be used, which requires the grape juice to be sterilized before packaging. There are different methods of sterilization. Sterile filtration can be used for clarified grape juice with no particulate matter, which uses membranes with a pore size that is small enough to filter out microorganisms (<0.45 µm). Thermal sterilization can also be used by heating the juice to a temperature of 93-100 °C for 15-45 seconds. Additionally, the container itself must also be sterilized with a chemical sterilizing agent like hydrogen peroxide. This process is beneficial for packaging materials such as Tetra Paks that cannot withstand high temperatures. The containers must then be filled in a sterile environment and can be stored for at least 6 months unrefrigerated. Although aseptic packaging is more costly, it maximizes shelf life and results in less heat damage and nutrient losses compared to hot filling.

Variety of Grapes Used for Juice

Despite common assumptions, commercial grape juice does not use the same species of grapes of which would be regularly known for eating. Due to the large selection of grape varieties, considerations that go into the choice of grape species include factors such as the consumer’s preferences, a grape’s disease resistance and a species’s tolerance to the weather if not already genetically controlled for. The blue-skinned Concord grape has become the most popular grape for juice in North America due to its durability to its environment and its labrusca flavour that comes from its methyl anthranilate properties. This type of grape can also be used for wines and jelly but is found to be most popular in juice for their marketed health benefits of containing anthocyanins and polyphenols. The green grapes that are used for white grape juice lack the phytochemicals that give their purple counterparts their dark colour.

Nutritional Value & Health Benefits

Grape juice has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Drinking grape juice can also control blood pressure, aging, and mitigate prostate cancer. To begin with, Just like regular grapes, grape juice contains strong antioxidants known as polyphenols. In fact, the antioxidants in grape juice can act as a protective agent against prostate cancer, which is a leading cause of low quality of life and mortality in men. A human study showed that “8-week dietary supplementation of grape juice (480 mL/day) reduced lymphocyte DNA damage by reducing the formation of reactive oxygen species by as much as 15%”. This suggests a potential anti-carcinogenic role for grape products such as grape juice. Additionally, studies have shown that red and purple grape juices lower the thickness of blood platelets, leading to a decrease in the formation of blood clotting that leads to heart attacks. Furthermore, consuming grape juice reduces blood pressure, especially in individuals with hypertension. Finally, findings suggest that drinking Concord grape juice may improve some cognitive abilities, such as verbal learning, of adults in the early stages of memory decline.