Reem Ahmad Khalil1*, Mouhamd Al-Azem1 and Waseem Abdulwahed2
1 Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Technical Engineering, Aleppo University, Syria.
2 Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Aleppo University, Syria.
(*Corresponding author: Reem Khalil, Email: reem.khalil.1996.@gmail.com , mob.: 0930553162 )
Received: 11/ 6/ 2025 Accepted: 8/ 10/ 2025
Abstract
In this study, sweet orange fruits (Citrus sinensis) were sourced from local markets in Aleppo city. The fruits were manually juiced, and the extracted juice was subsequently mixed with maltodextrin. The resulting mixture was then subjected to spray drying—a technique widely employed in the food industry for producing fruit juice powders. The investigation focused on evaluating selected physicochemical properties of three juice samples: fresh orange juice, orange juice supplemented with maltodextrin at a ratio of 4:1, and reconstituted juice obtained from the dried powder. The parameters assessed included: reducing sugars, total acidity, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), soluble solids content (°Brix), moisture content, viscosity, turbidity, and color attributes (L*, a*, b*). The yield of spray-dried orange juice supplemented with maltodextrin was 18.64%. Statistically significant differences were observed among the studied samples in terms of their physicochemical characteristics. Moisture and acidity levels were highest in the fresh juice prior to maltodextrin addition. Conversely, the incorporation of maltodextrin led to an increase in both viscosity and °Brix values. Spray drying had a pronounced impact on all measured parameters, particularly resulting in elevated turbidity and color intensity. On the other hand, reductions were noted in reducing sugars, acidity, and vitamin C content following drying, with final values of 1.201%, 3.525%, and 15.47 mg/100g, respectively.
Keywords: Orange Juice, Maltodextrin, Spray drying, Powder, Drying process, Vitamin C.
Full paper in Arabic: PDF