•••quote:•••Originally posted by souljah1:
•I'm an OJ type of guy. I like the Tropicana Pure and Premium fortified with Calcium (and I like the pulp). I don't think that concentrate being better than fresh squeezed is better nutritionally (and concentrate tastes like hell compared to fresh squeezd).•••••souljah1,
I tried to link the article I read awhile back, but for some reason, it's not working. So, here's the article in its entirety. Sorry folks.
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Frozen concentrate orange juice has more vitamin C
By Alan Mozes
NEW YORK, Apr 19 (Reuters Health) - Orange juice made from frozen concentrate can have higher levels of active vitamin C than ready-to-drink orange juice, researchers report. And once reconstituted, the vitamin in frozen juices may keep its potency longer.
"Frozen concentrates have more vitamin C in them, quite a bit more, than ready-to-drink juices--since vitamin C is very easily destroyed and ready-to-drink orange juice goes through more processing than concentrates," said study lead author Dr. Carol S. Johnston of Arizona State University East in Mesa.
Johnston and her co-author D. L. Bowling examined samples taken from different brands of orange juice sold in both frozen concentrate form and in ready-to-drink resealable cartons. Among the ready-to-drink samples, the researchers included both not-from-concentrate, pasteurized versions and from-concentrate, non-pasteurized versions.
The content of the type of vitamin C that can be readily absorbed by the body dropped in all of the juices over time, with levels falling an average of 2% per day, Johnston and Bowling report in the April issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
However, the investigators note that the ready-to-drink versions lost much more usable vitamin C during that period than did the frozen concentrates. When first prepared, the frozen concentrates contained 86 milligrams of vitamin C per fluid cup, which dropped to 39 to 46 milligrams after 4 weeks. The ready-to-drink juices contained anywhere from 27 to 65 milligrams per cup when unsealed and this dropped to 0 to 25 milligrams per cup at the expiration date 4 weeks later.
Overall, the various ready-to-drink samples contained between 75% to 105% of the readily absorbable vitamin C noted on their labels--a figure which dropped to between 25% and 39% by the end of the month. On the other hand, the frozen concentrates had 80% of their vitamin C label claims on opening, dropping to 50% after 4 weeks.
Johnston and Bowling conclude that ready-to-drink OJ loses a lot of its usable vitamin C in the period of time that commonly elapses between a consumer's initial purchase and the time of consumption. They point out that the pasteurization procedure--which many ready-to-drink orange juices undergo to destroy bacteria--gives this version a poorer running start due to the immediate heat destruction of vitamin C.
The degradation of vitamin C in this processing is further aggravated, they note, by the type of plastic and wax containers in which ready-to-drink juices are packaged--leaving the juice's vitamin C content much more vulnerable to damaging air exposure over time than the vitamin C in frozen concentrates.
The researchers suggest that to maximize vitamin C consumption, consumers are best off drinking frozen concentrate OJ within the first week after mixing it with water. They note that if consumers prefer the ease of ready-to-drink OJ they should make sure to buy those juices 3 to 4 weeks before the expiration date, and drink it within the first week after opening the container.
"I hate to discourage people from getting orange juice, and you do get some vitamin C in ready-to-drink orange juice," Johnston told Reuters Health. "But I think if people knew that concentrate was a better product they would make the effort to get it.... And it's important because orange juice is a major source of vitamin C in the American diet and Americans are getting less and less in their diet. So they should try to get the best product."
Lisa Rath, executive vice president of the Florida Citrus Processors Association--which represents about 90% of US orange juice production--said the study deserves further scrutiny. "I think we have trouble with some of the parameters of the study," she said, "but we haven't had the opportunity to review the study in depth," she said.
But Rath added that Florida's orange juice makers "believe in our product."
"We want to be sure we deliver a product that has the vitamin C we say it has on the label," she said.
SOURCE: Journal of the American Dietetic Association 2002;102:525-529.
