How much citric acid to preserve my juice
I wanted to preserve my juices longer. I am using a mango juice powder that includes the ingredients Sugar, Mango Juice, Malic Acid, Natural Flavor. I am dissolving about the powder into 8 oz of purified water. How much citric acid should I use to make it last longer and about how long will it last me? I know this won't be exact but I am just trying to get an idea of how it will work. Thank you so much in advance and please let me know if you have any questions.
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Best Answer
Short answer: Enough citric acid to get the pH below 4.2, then pasteurize. One mM citric acid solution has a pH of 3.2, but it's essentially tribasic with pKa of 5.21, 4.28 and 2.92, so figuring it out on paper will take some work. It might be easier to just add some acid and see what the pH is, repeat as necessary.
References: Tetra Pak White Paper on Pasteurization, Citric Acid wikipedia
How much additional storage time will you get? I cannot answer that, there are multiple other ways foods can spoil, storage conditions are not mentioned (temperature, storage vessel, etc.), and generally without lots of careful work one cannot achieve at home the storage longevity of commercially-produced items.
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Add ½ teaspoon per quart or ¼ teaspoon per pint. Citric acid also is used to preserve the color of fresh cut fruit or as a pretreatment for frozen and dried fruit (see Color Enhancers and Colorants section).How do you use citric acid to preserve juice?
How to Use Citric Acid as a PreservativeDoes citric acid preserve fruit juice?
Natural preservatives are another way to retain color and restore flavor. Ingredients like ascorbic acid (vitamin C), citric acid, malic acid, and honey will prevent browning, while essential oil, alpha tocopherol (vitamin E), or even a squirt of fresh juice from a different batch will preserve flavor.How long can citric acid preserve juice?
Store citric acid in its original container in a cool, dry place. From the date of manufacturing, it has a shelf life of three years once opened and will stay stable for at least five years unopened.How do you increase the shelf life of juice?
Juice with a low PH (high acidity) will generally last longer than juice with high PH. For example, lemon juice (which has a low PH) will have a much longer shelf life than carrot juice. You should generally try adding acidic juice to your recipes when possible to improve the shelf life.Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Miguel Á. Padriñán, Karine Monteiro, Skyler Ewing, Skyler Ewing