What is the best way to store a juice to preserve antioxidants?

Fruits and berries are high in polyphenols including anthocyanins, flavonols, and phenolic acids and are often made into a juice to get these nutrients.

People often will drink juices high in antioxidants looking for relief of inflammation and oxidative stress.

Unfortunately, storage of juices for long periods of time can lead to a breakdown of polyphenols from the following factors: temperature, light, pH, enzymes and oxygen.

The objective of this study was to investigate the structural stability of polyphenols in black currant juice.black currant

The results were published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

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Here are the study details

– Black currants (Ribes nigrum L.) of cultivar ‘Mortti’ were cultivated in Southern Finland (Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) Piikkiö, Finland) and harvested in August 2010

– Samples were stored and analyzed using HPLC and NMR.

 

Here are the main results

– After 1 year more than anthocyanins were lost at room temperature in a year, practically independent of light.

– Black currant juice stored at room temperature in light led to a 26% decrease in hydroxycinnamic acids.

– Black currant juice stored in a refrigerator for 9 months led to a 50% decrease in anthocyanins.

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– Altogether 43 metabolites of phenolics were identified.

– Anthocyanin glycosides are best stored in a refrigerator.  At room temperature significant decreases of anthocyanin glycosides was observed.

 

Take away message

After 1 year more than 90% of the anthocyanins were lost in the juice when stored at room temperature.  Fresh juice provides stored in a refrigerator are the best way to preserve the antioxidants in your juice.  Ideally, you want to select a juice that is as fresh as possible and stored in a refrigerator away from light.  Remember this when you look down the room temperature aisle of juices.  Unfortunately, the expiration date has nothing to do with the levels of antioxidants in the juice.

 

Reference

Stability of Hydroxycinnamic Acid Derivatives, Flavonol Glycosides, and Anthocyanins in Black Currant Juice. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2016; Volume 64 (Issue 22): Pages 4584-98.