Kerry unveils new citrus extraction technology

Kerry has introduced an ‘advanced’ citrus extraction technology, which it claims enables food and beverage manufacturers to provide cleaner ingredient labels.

The new technology can be applied to a variety of citrus fruit and has many different applications, including flavoured waters, ready-to-drink teas, energy drinks, hard seltzers and spirits, as well as in different foodstuffs.

Initially, the citrus tonalities on offer include lime, lemon, orange and tangerine, and Kerry says that there are more to come.

The New! Citrus Extract portfolio was developed with the support of Kerry’s non-thermal liquid/liquid extraction process.

This process is said to produce concentrated extracts with a ‘greatly reduced’ level of terpenes and sesquiterpenes, delivering a fresh, clean and vibrant taste profile.

Kerry claims that its new extraction technology is more effective than current methods at retaining the aroma and flavour of citrus, and provides a more full-bodied finish.

All products are said to be completely water soluble and colourless in the finished application, allowing manufacturers to replace a natural citrus flavour with a natural citrus extract.

“Citrus flavours and extracts have been used in foods and beverages for centuries,” said Ton Mesters, global product director citrus at Kerry.

“By enabling producers to retain the wonderful aroma and flavour of authentic citrus and deliver a fresh, intense, full-bodied citrus taste, our technology represents a major step forward from traditional extract processing.

“Our extracts deliver all of the benefits of a natural flavour, but can be labelled a ‘natural extract’, enabling food and beverage developers to clean up their ingredient labels.”