A Study of the Nutritional Composition of Freshly Squeezed and Processed Orange Juices

Large quantities of oranges, Citrus sinensis are lost at postharvest due to an array of factors. Processing is considered a means of minimizing losses. However, the question of loss in nutrients remains a major challenging factor deterring the acceptability of processed juices. To compare the nutritional composition of processed and freshly squeezed orange juices, four samples were used including two varieties of oranges (valencia and Ibadan sweet) and two brands of processed orange juice (fumman and chi-exotic) were collected. Proximate composition, vitamin C and mineral content were determined, using standard methods. The result shows that freshly orange juice has more vitamin C than processed orange juice (Ibadan sweet = 10 mg/100g, Valencia = 8 mg/100g, chi-exotic = 2.56 mg/100g, fumman = 2.30 mg/100g). The samples showed high moisture content (89.10%) and valencia had the lowest (86.00%). Ibadan sweet had the highest ash content (45 mg/100g) while valencia, fumman and chi-exotic had 40 mg/100g, 35 mg/100g and 32 mg/100g respectively. Valencia had the highest protein content (385 mg/100g), Ibadan sweet, fumman and chi-exotic had 350 mg/100g, 328 mg/100g and 241 mg/100g respectively. Both varieties of freshly squeezed contained the same amount of fibre (20 mg/100g) while fumman and chi-exotic had 12 mg/100g and 8 mg/100g respectively. Valencia had the highest amount of carbohydrate (13.555%), Ibadan sweet, fumman and chi exotic had 13.085%,11.425% and 10.619% respectively. Fumman had the highest calcium content (0.050 ppm), chi-exotic had the highest sodium and iron content (0.3176 ppm and 0.1287 ppm) while valencia had the highest potassium content (0.210 ppm). Key words: Citrus sinensis, nutrients, proximate parameters, processing