METHOD FOR STERILIZING FRUIT BEVERAGE AND SYSTEM THEREOF

摘要

A method and system for sterilizing a fruit beverage are provided to effectively kill spores of an acid-resistant and heat-resistant microorganism present in fruit and to extend shelf life of the fruit beverage. A fruit beverage is sterilized by the steps of: putting a fruit beverage containing a spore of an acid-resistant and heat-resistant microorganism into a reactor with the internal temperature of 65 to 70deg.C; pressuring the interior pressure of the reactor to 80 to 300 bar by pouring supercritical carbon dioxide into the reactor at a flow velocity of 80 to 100ml/min; sterilizing the fruit beverage using the introduced supercritical carbon dioxide at the above temperature and interior pressure; depressurizing the interior of the reactor by removing the supercritical carbon dioxide from the reactor. The microorganism is Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris. The fruit beverage is any one selected from the group consisting of grape juice, strawberry juice, pineapple juice, mandarin juice, orange juice, mango juice and apple juice. A system for sterilizing a fruit beverage contains: a liquid carbon dioxide storage tank; a conversion part for converting liquid carbon dioxide to supercritical carbon dioxide; a reactor for sterilizing the fruit beverage with supercritical carbon dioxide; a condenser for condensing the supercritical carbon dioxide and introducing the obtained liquid carbon dioxide into a storage tank; and a control part.