Systems and methods for automatically coring, or isolating fiber or whole juice sacs from citrus fruit

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016374371-A1
Application number	US-201414902538-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 3, 2014
Priority date	Jul 3, 2013
Publication date	Dec 29, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system and method for automatically coring a whole citrus fruit, isolating fiber or substantially whole juice sacs from at least a portion of a whole citrus fruit.

First claim

1 . A method of isolating whole juice sacs from at least a portion of a whole citrus fruit, said method comprising:
introducing a first enzyme into the at least a portion of the whole citrus fruit to cause the at least a portion of the whole citrus fruit to partially degrade to produce partially degraded citrus; removing peel from the partially degraded citrus to expose a first degraded citrus; applying a second enzyme to the first degraded citrus to cause the first degraded citrus to further degrade to form a second degraded citrus; and isolating the whole juice sacs from the second degraded citrus.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second enzymes are a pectinase.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein isolating includes administering force to the second degraded citrus, the juice sacs being removed from citrus membranes of the second degraded citrus.

4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein administering force includes applying air or water force to the second degraded citrus.

5 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein the administering force includes spraying the degraded peeled citrus with the air or water at temperature being between about 70° C. and about 90° C.

6 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein administering force includes air tumbling the second degraded citrus.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein introducing includes puncturing the peel to enable the first enzyme to enter the peel of the at least a portion of the punctured whole citrus fruit.

8 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein introducing includes vacuum assisting the enzyme into the punctured citrus.

9 . The method according to claim 7 , further comprising collecting citrus oil from the punctured citrus.

10 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein removing includes mechanically removing the peel from the at least a portion of the whole citrus fruit.

11 . The method according to claim 10 , further comprising automatically scoring the peel of the at least a portion of the whole citrus fruit.

12 . The method according to claim 10 , further comprising coring the at least a portion of the whole citrus fruit.

13 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising automatically coring the at least a portion of the whole citrus fruit including automatically aligning the at least a portion of the whole citrus fruit with a coring element.

14 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the citrus is selected from the group consisting of sweet oranges, grapefruits, mandarin, clementine, Satsuma, tangerine, Tangor, lemon, and lime.

15 . A substantially purified population of juice sacs prepared by the method of claim 1 .

16 . A beverage comprising the juice sacs of claim 15 .

17 . A consumer packaging comprising the juice sacs of claim 15 .

18 . A system for isolating whole juice sacs from at least a portion of a whole citrus fruit, said system comprising:
a first vessel configured to introduce a first enzyme into the at least a portion of the whole citrus fruit to cause the at least a portion of the whole citrus fruit to partially degrade to produce partially degraded citrus; a peel remover configured to remove peel from the partially degraded citrus to expose a first degraded citrus; a second vessel configured to apply a second enzyme to the first degraded citrus to cause the first degraded citrus to further degrade to form a second degraded citrus; and at least one isolation device configured to isolate the whole juice sacs from the second degraded citrus.

19 . The system according to claim 18 , wherein the first and second enzymes are a pectinase.

20 . The system according to claim 18 , wherein said at least one isolation device is configured to administer force to the second degraded citrus, the juice sacs being removed from citrus membranes of the second degraded citrus.

21 - 133 . (canceled)

Assignees

• Coca Cola Co

Inventors

• Moss Peter R
• Gainey Simon

Classifications

• A23L2/84 Primary

  using microorganisms or biological material, e.g. enzymes · CPC title

• A23L2/082

  by membrane processes · CPC title

• A23L19/00

  Products from fruits or vegetables; Preparation or treatment thereof (marmalades, jams, jellies or the like A23L21/10; treating harvested fruit or vegetables in bulk A23N) · CPC title

• A23V2002/00

  Food compositions, function of food ingredients or processes for food or foodstuffs · CPC title

• A23L2/74

  using membranes, e.g. osmosis, ultrafiltration · CPC title