Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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Applications of natural plant extracts in
soft drinks
P. Ashurst, Ashurst and Associates, UK
Abstract:
Soft drinks contain a wide variety of natural extracts and these are prepared
from plant material by expression, distillation, solvent extraction or fermentation. The
chapter considers the most important types of extracts produced by these methods and
reviews their application in soft drinks. It also looks at usage amounts and label
declarations. Due to the importance of water in products of this type, this ingredient is
also addressed in the chapter. In addition, there is a brief look at future trends.
Key words:
soft drinks, natural extracts and ingredients, methods of extraction,
applications, water quality.
15.1 Introduction
Soft drinks are generally considered to be non-alcoholic beverages with a pH
value typically below 4.0. The description normally excludes dairy products, tea
and coffee. As beverage and ingredient manufacturers seek to develop new
products, the boundaries between these different categories become blurred and
there are now many soft drink products that incorporate ingredients that can be
found in other categories. Fruit juices are generally considered alongside soft
drinks and later reference is made to them as ingredients rather than products in
their own right. In most legislative environments, no additions may be made to
fruit juices other than the addition of water, and sometimes ascorbic acid to
concentrated juices, without compromising their status.
At the outset, it is necessary to set out what constitutes a natural extract. The
word 'natural' covers a range of possibilities and, for the purpose of this chapter,
it is considered to refer to ingredients that have been obtained by physical,
mechanical or microbiological techniques. There are very few soft drinks that do
not contain natural extracts of one kind or another as they offer a wide range of
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