Apparatus and method for making citrus juice from frozen bodies

An apparatus for making citrus juice preferably includes a supply of relatively small frozen bodies comprising at least one of citrus juice and pulp, a heating section for adding heat to the frozen bodies to thaw the frozen bodies, and a filling section downstream from the heating section for filling juice containers with citrus juice. The relatively small frozen bodies may have at least one dimension less than about 1.5 inches. The apparatus may also include a pasteurizing section upstream from the filling section. In one embodiment, the supply comprises a plurality of portable containers each containing a plurality of frozen bodies. The heating section preferably comprises a heat transfer tank, a heat transfer fluid in the heat transfer tank, a heater for the heat transfer fluid, and a conveyor for advancing the containers of frozen bodies through the heat transfer fluid. Each portable container may comprise a flexible bag, for example. In accordance with another advantageous feature of the invention, the apparatus may include at least one other supply of liquid citrus juice. A blending tank may be provided between the heating section and the filling section and connected to the at least one other supply of liquid citrus juice. The blending tank permits blending of different citrus juices, and/or for blending with concentrated juices, for example.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
 The present invention relates to citrus juice, and, more particularly, to
 an apparatus and method for processing citrus juice.
 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 Citrus fruit juice drinks are widely enjoyed by many people. Unfortunately,
 citrus fruit have specific growing seasons, and grow only under certain
 climatic conditions, i.e., tropical and subtropical. Accordingly, citrus
 fruit are therefore available in fresh form for only a portion of the
 year. To have citrus fruit juice in good quality available year round and
 anywhere, the citrus fruit juice is typically processed for storage and
 distribution.
 Since citrus fruit juice typically contains about 80 to 90% water, a common
 way to store and distribute the juice has been in the form of a
 concentrate, the bulk of which is a frozen concentrate. However,
 concentrating the juice may impair the quality of the juice, in that the
 volatile aroma and flavor compounds of the natural juice are reduced.
 Alternately, the fresh citrus fruit juice may be frozen without any
 concentration. Here, relatively large containers, such as drums, are used
 or the juice is frozen in the form of large slabs or blocks. The size of
 these drums and slabs or blocks results in time-consuming freezing and
 thawing. In addition, large ice crystals are typically formed during the
 freezing. These large ice crystals typically rupture the sacs and cells if
 the pulp, and the ruptured sacs and cells are then diluted during the
 thawing.
 When freezing in a conventional fashion, the temperature drops very slowly
 and several undesired bacterial and mold species can grow and multiply.
 Therefore, a pasteurisation is typically performed before freezing and is
 also performed upon thawing for safety reasons. This heat treatment causes
 degradation of the natural aroma level to a product with off-aroma and
 off-taste and browning of the juice and the pulp. Further deterioration of
 the quality of the juice is due to slow ice formation during freezing,
 resulting in oxidation and migration of water and sugar, such that the
 whole drum, slab or block of frozen juice must be thawed before further
 processing is possible.
 Furthermore, thawing may take several days and may be subject to
 bacteriologic contamination and yeast fermentation. On the other hand, if
 the slabs or blocks are crushed in order to speed up the thawing, a high
 percentage of the juice sacs and other fruit cells will be mechanically
 ruptured or damaged and the juice quality will be severely decreased.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 In view of the foregoing background, it is therefore an object of the
 invention to provide an apparatus and method for processing citrus juice
 so as to make high quality juice available year round, and in areas remote
 from citrus growing areas.
 This and other objects, advantages, and features in accordance with the
 present invention are provided by an apparatus for making citrus juice
 comprising: a supply of relatively small frozen bodies comprising at least
 one of citrus juice and pulp, a heating section for adding heat to the
 frozen bodies to thaw the frozen bodies, and a filling section downstream
 from the heating section for filling juice containers with citrus juice.
 In one embodiment, the relatively small frozen bodies may have at least
 one dimension less than about 1.5 inches, such as formed during rapid
 freezing. The apparatus may also include a pasteurizing section upstream
 from the filling section.
 In one embodiment, the supply comprises a plurality of portable containers
 each containing a plurality of frozen bodies. In this embodiment, the
 heating section preferably comprises a heat transfer tank, a heat transfer
 fluid in the heat transfer tank, a heater for the heat transfer fluid, and
 a conveyor for advancing the containers of frozen bodies through the heat
 transfer fluid. Each portable container may comprise a flexible bag, for
 example.
 In accordance with another advantageous feature of the invention, the
 apparatus may include at least one other supply of liquid citrus juice. In
 this embodiment, a blending tank may be provided between the heating
 section and the filling section and connected to the at least one other
 supply of liquid citrus juice. The blending tank permits blending of
 different citrus juices, and/or for blending with concentrated juices, for
 example.
 In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the heating section
 comprises a receiving tank for receiving the frozen bodies, and a heater
 connected to the receiving tank. In this embodiment, at least one other
 supply for liquid citrus juice may be connected to the receiving tank so
 that the receiving tank also provides a blending function. The thawing
 action is based upon the relatively small bodies being in contact with
 liquid juice to facilitate heat transfer.
 Each frozen body preferably comprises a homogenous mixture of
 not-from-concentrate citrus juice and/or pulp. Each frozen body may also
 have a generally rectangular shape.
 A method aspect of the invention is for making citrus juice, and preferably
 comprises the steps of: supplying a plurality of frozen bodies each being
 relatively small and comprising at least one of citrus juice and pulp;
 heating the frozen bodies to thaw the frozen bodies; and filling juice
 containers with citrus juice. The relatively small frozen bodies may have
 at least one dimension less than about 1.5 inches as formed during rapid
 freezing. The method may also include the step of pasteurizing before
 filling the juice containers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
 The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with
 reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of
 the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many
 different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments
 set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this
 disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope
 of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like
 elements throughout.
 Referring initially to FIGS. 1-5, a citrus fruit processing apparatus 20
 and various frozen citrus related products or articles are first
 described. The term "citrus" as used herein, refers to all fresh citrus
 fruits from which a pulp portion and a juice portion can be extracted and
 separated, such as including oranges, grapefruits, lemons, tangerines,
 mandarines and limes. The processing apparatus 20 includes an extractor 22
 for extracting at least one of juice and pulp from citrus fruit 24. The
 extraction may be carried out in a conventional extractor 22 that extracts
 the raw juice and pulp from the citrus fruit and separates the skin, rag,
 membranes and seeds.
 The citrus fruit 24 are schematically illustrated as being initially held
 within a hopper 23. the citrus fruit 24 to be processed are typically
 first washed and then rinsed with water. The illustrated apparatus 20 also
 includes a pair of rapid freezers 25, 26 downstream from the extractor 22
 for rapidly freezing the juice and pulp, respectively.
 The juice rapid freezer 25, for example, includes an insulated housing 31,
 a refrigeration system 32 for generating a freezing zone in the housing,
 and a forming mechanism 33 for forming juice from the extractor 22 into a
 shape having at least one relatively small dimension so as to rapidly
 freeze in the freezing zone. The relatively small dimension may be a
 height dimension, which may preferably be less than about 1.5 inches, for
 example. This dimension may also be more preferably less than about 1
 inch, and can be readily made as small as 0.5 inches. The refrigeration
 system 32 and the forming mechanism 33 preferably cooperate to freeze the
 juice in less than about 20 minutes, preferably in less than about 10
 minutes, and more preferably in a range of about 2 to 5 minutes.
 The forming mechanism 33 preferably produces frozen bodies having a
 predetermined shape, such as generally rectangular as shown by the frozen
 juice body 50 of FIG. 2. Those of skill in the art will readily appreciate
 that the corners and edges of the body 50 are rounded in view of the
 forming process. The rectangular shape may have dimensions of about 2
 inches (L) by 1 inch width (W) by M inch height (H). Because these
 relatively small bodies 50 are rapidly frozen, each includes a homogenous
 mixture of not-from-concentrate (NFC) juice, for example. If the juice had
 been subject to evaporation for concentration, for example, the heating
 would produce certain compounds in the juice as will be readily understood
 by those skilled in the art. The NFC juice does not include these
 compounds. These bodies 50 can be readily stored for extended periods, and
 can be readily thawed and blended to produce high quality citrus juice as
 will be described in greater detail below.
 The apparatus may include a finisher 52 connected between the extractor 22
 and the rapid freezers 25, 26 for separating juice and pulp from each
 other as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. The
 finisher 52 may have screens or sieves with openings of appropriate size,
 such that the juice portion (or fraction) passes therethrough and is
 separated from the pulp portion (or fraction). High-speed centrifuges may
 be used for further clarification of the juice stream in which the minimal
 particle size generally is less than 0.010 inches as will be readily
 understood by those skilled in the art.
 The illustrated apparatus 20 includes a juice rapid freezer 25, and a pulp
 rapid freezer 26. As will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the
 art, in some embodiments, only a juice rapid freezer 25 or only a pulp
 rapid freezer 26 may be used. Also, a single rapid freezer may be provided
 which processes or freezes juice and pulp combined. In other words, it may
 be desired to rapidly freeze just the juice individually, or just the pulp
 individually, or a combination of juice and pulp together. Of course, in
 other embodiments one rapid freezer could be used in batch type operations
 for both juice and pulp.
 One significant advantage of the invention is that the rapid freezer 25 can
 receive and process at least one of juice and pulp without intervening
 heating. In other words, a pasteurization step is not needed before the
 rapid freezing operation. Accordingly, the flavor and quality of juice
 later produced from the frozen bodies 50 are greatly enhanced.
 The illustrated apparatus 20 includes a respective buffer tank 53, 54 for
 each of the juice and pulp. The apparatus 20 also includes respective heat
 exchangers 55, 56 for each of the juice and pulp respectively to lower the
 temperature before delivery to the respective feeders 57, 67 of the rapid
 freezers 25, 26 respectively, as will be readily understood by those
 skilled in the art. The schematically illustrated juice line 71 may be
 used to add a portion of the juice back to the pulp to make handling of
 the pulp easier, since the pulp may be relatively stiff without the
 additional juice.
 Also referring to the juice rapid freezer 25 as shown in the upper
 right-hand portion of FIG. 1, the forming portion or mechanism 33 of the
 rapid freezer 25 includes a lower conveyor belt 34 defining a plurality of
 molds in an upper surface thereof, an upper conveyor belt 35 adjacent the
 lower conveyor belt, and a drive mechanism 36 for driving the lower and
 upper conveyor belts to pass through the freezing zone. The forming
 mechanism 33 may also include the schematically illustrated feeder 57 for
 feeding at least one of juice and pulp onto the lower conveyor belt 34.
 This feeding may be in an oscillating or sinusoidal pattern as will be
 readily appreciated by those skilled in the art.
 The refrigeration system 32 may be coupled to or include a plurality of
 sprayers 36 for spraying chilled fluid onto the lower and upper conveyor
 belts 34, 35. The molds of the lower conveyor belt 34 may be provided by a
 corrugated shape of the belt. In addition, both the lower and upper
 conveyor belts 33, 34 may comprise stainless steel. The molds may produce
 relatively long frozen bodies which may be sawed or broken into shorter
 length frozen juice bodies 50 using conventional sawing or cluster
 breaking equipment as will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the
 art.
 The frozen juice bodies 50 are delivered from an exit conveyor 37 for
 further packaging as will now be described in greater detail. Those
 elements in the pulp rapid freezer 26 are identified with similar
 references numerals as for the juice freezer 25 incremented by 10.
 Accordingly, these elements need no further description herein. The frozen
 pulp bodies are indicated by reference numeral 60; however, again for
 clarity of explanation, the packaging features and advantages of the
 present invention are generally described in terms of the frozen juice
 bodies 50, although the same principles apply to the frozen pulp bodies 60
 or to frozen bodies including both juice and pulp.
 Another aspect of the invention is directed to a citrus juice related
 article comprising a portable container, and a plurality of relatively
 small bodies 50 of frozen citrus juice in the portable container. In
 embodiment shown in FIG. 5, for example, each body 50 preferably has at
 least one dimension less than about 1.5 inches, and each body preferably
 comprises a homogenous mixture of NFC citrus juice. Each body 50 may have
 a predetermined shape, such as generally rectangular as shown in FIG. 2.
 In some embodiments, each body may also include citrus pulp. Of course,
 the invention is also applicable to the freezing and storage of bodies of
 citrus pulp with little or substantially no juice.
 The container of the article 70 as shown in FIG. 3, for example, comprises
 a flexible bag 71 to provide protection against sublimation and
 contamination, for example, and to facilitate storage and handling. The
 flexible bag 71 may typically comprise plastic as will be readily
 understood by those skilled in the art. The flexible bag 71 may preferably
 comprise an opaque material to reduce the action of light on the frozen
 bodies. In some embodiments where exposure to light is not a concern, the
 bag 71 may comprise a transparent material.
 The embodiment of the article 75 as shown in FIG. 4 also includes a plastic
 bag 77 with a fused seal 78 to maintain flavors and prevent contamination.
 The container also includes a generally rectangular box 76 made of
 corrugated paperboard surrounding the flexible bag 77. Of course, the box
 76 may have other shapes and be formed from other packaging materials as
 will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. In addition, a
 rigid container, such as made of plastic, may be used without the flexible
 bag as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. The rigid
 container may be a drum, for example.
 The article 80 illustrated in FIG. 5 is a larger capacity container which
 would typically include a generally rectangular box 81 made of wood, for
 example, although other materials may also be used. The box 81 is lined
 with a plastic bag 82 which provides the advantages in terms of protection
 as noted above. In addition, the article 80 may be stored or positioned on
 a conventional shipping pallet 83, such as for routine automated handling
 using a forklift as will be readily understood by those skilled in the
 art. The bags 71 as shown in FIG. 3 may also be stacked on a pallet as
 will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art.
 In addition, a container for the frozen citrus juice bodies 50 may have
 different capacities depending on the application. For example, for manual
 handling, the container, such as the bag 71 of the article 70 as shown in
 FIG. 3, may have a capacity in a range of about 3 to 10 gallons. For
 automated handling and storage in a refrigerated warehouse, for example, a
 larger container, such as the wood box 81 and bag 82 of the article 80 of
 FIG. 5, may have a capacity in a range of about 250 to 350 gallons, with
 300 gallons being a typical size.
 In addition to the containers described above with reference to FIGS. 3-5
 including the frozen bodies 50 as described above, the invention is also
 directed to the individual frozen bodies 50 themselves. Each frozen body
 50 is preferably a generally rectangular body having at least one
 dimension less than about 1.5 inches, and as small as 0.5 inches or less,
 and each body 50 preferably comprises a homogenous frozen mixture of NFC
 citrus juice. The frozen body may include pulp, or may be pulp with
 substantially no juice as will be readily appreciated by those skilled in
 the art.
 Referring now additionally to FIG. 6, the juice rapid freezer 25 is more
 fully described. The juice rapid freezer 25 may be of the type disclosed
 in U.S. Pat. No. 3,774,409 to Persson et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,029
 to Alfred et al. Of course, other types of rapid freezers are also
 contemplated by the present invention. In addition to those components
 already discussed above, the illustrated rapid freezer 25 includes a
 product infeed pump 91, brine circulation pumps 92, a brine cooler 94, a
 brine storage tank 95, and a drain circulation pump 93. The corrugations
 of the lower conveyor belt 34 are clearly visible in the left-hand portion
 of FIG. 6. An air cooler 96 is provided within the insulated housing 31.
 The final forming device 97 is schematically illustrated at the exit end
 of the lower and upper conveyor belts 34, 35. The rapid freezer 25 also
 includes a seal arrangement adjacent the side edges of the lower and upper
 conveyor belts 34, 35, not shown. The pulp rapid freezer 26 may be
 substantially identical to the juice rapid freezer 25, and, hence, the
 pulp rapid freezer needs no further discussion herein.
 Turning now additionally to FIG. 7, various portions of another processing
 apparatus in the form of a juice making apparatus 100 according to one
 embodiment of the invention is now described. The juice making apparatus
 100 uses the frozen bodies produced by the initial processing apparatus 20
 described extensively above. The apparatus 100 includes a supply 101 of
 relatively small frozen bodies comprising at least one of citrus juice and
 pulp, a heating or thawing section 102 for adding heat to the frozen
 bodies to thaw the frozen bodies, and a filling section 115 downstream
 from the heating section for filling juice containers 116 with citrus
 juice. In one embodiment, the relatively small frozen bodies 50, 60 may
 have at least one dimension less than about 1.5 inches. The apparatus 100
 may also include a pasteurizing section 114 upstream from the filling
 section as shown in the illustrated embodiment.
 As shown in FIG. 7, the supply 101 comprises a plurality of portable
 containers in the form of flexible bags 71 as shown in FIG. 3, for
 example. However, the containers could also be rigid and have different
 sizes and shapes as will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the
 art. In the illustrated embodiment, each flexible bag 71 includes a
 plurality of frozen bodies. In this embodiment, the heating section 102
 comprises a heat transfer tank 104, a heat transfer fluid 105 in the heat
 transfer tank, a heater 105 for the heat transfer fluid, and a conveyor
 106 for advancing the containers of frozen bodies through the heat
 transfer fluid. The bags 71 could also be conveyed through the heat
 transfer fluid 105 by an overhead conveyor, for example, as will be
 readily appreciated by those skilled in the art.
 The heating section 102 of FIG. 7 is provided to illustrate the broad
 concept of partially or completely thawing the frozen bodies by passing
 the containers through a heat exchanging fluid. Those of skill in the art
 will appreciate other equivalent approaches which are also contemplated by
 the present invention. For example, the containers may also be exposed to
 a steam environment, or be sprayed with a heated liquid.
 Downstream from the heating section 102, a station is provided for opening
 the bags 71 and dispensing the partially or completely thawed contents
 into a buffer tank 110. The buffer tank 110 is selectively connectable to
 a downstream blending tank 112. The blending tank 112 is also
 illustratively connected to at least one other source 113 which may
 provide other juice(s) for blending into a final desired product as will
 be readily understood by those skilled in the art. In other embodiments,
 the buffer tank 110 may provide the tank for blending. The blending
 operation could include the addition of pulp or juice from other frozen
 supplies of other citrus fruits, could be fresh juice or pulp, and/or
 could include portions of concentrated juice.
 Turning now to FIG. 8, a different type of juice making apparatus 120 is
 now described. The apparatus 120 takes advantage of another highly
 advantageous property of the frozen bodies 50, 60. In particular, the
 supply of frozen bodies 50, 60 can be directly added from a box 76 of
 frozen bodies to a blending/thawing tank 121. Because the frozen bodies
 are relatively small, they quickly absorb heat from the surrounding liquid
 juice as will be understood by those skilled in the art.
 A pasteurizing heater 114 and conventional fill station 115 are connected
 downstream of the blending/thawing tank 121. A heater 122 is connected to
 the blending/thawing tank 121 to provide heat thereto. The
 blending/thawing tank 121 would typically include a portion of liquid
 therein to assist in heat transfer to the frozen bodies as they are added
 to the tank.
 To provide the optional blending features, one or more other sources 113 of
 juice and/or pulp can be connected to the blending/thawing tank 121 as
 shown in the illustrated embodiment. The embodiment of a juice making
 apparatus 120 may include additional components and is shown in simplified
 schematic form for ease of understanding the principles of the invention.
 This apparatus 120 is illustrative of the broad class of juice making
 apparatus where the frozen bodies are directly added to liquid juice for
 thawing as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.
 One method aspect of the invention is for processing citrus fruit and
 comprises the steps of: extracting at least one of juice and pulp from
 citrus fruit, and rapidly freezing at least one of juice and pulp after
 extraction by forming at least one of juice and fruit into a shape having
 at least one relatively small dimension while passing through a freezing
 zone. In particular, the step of rapidly freezing may comprise providing
 at least one rapid freezer 25 including a housing 31, a refrigeration
 system 32 for generating the freezing zone in the housing, and a forming
 mechanism 33 for at least one of juice and pulp. The at least one
 relatively small dimension may be a height dimension which is less than
 about 1.5 inches, for example.
 The step of rapidly freezing preferably comprises freezing at least one of
 juice and pulp in less than about 20 minutes, and, more preferably, in a
 range of about 2 to 5 minutes. The step of rapidly freezing also
 preferably comprises rapidly freezing at least one of juice and pulp
 without intervening heating to thereby preserve the high quality flavor.
 Another method aspect of the invention is for storing citrus juice. This
 method preferably comprises the steps of: forming a plurality of
 relatively small bodies 50 of frozen citrus juice, each body preferably
 having at least one dimension less than about 1.5 inches; placing the
 plurality of relatively small bodies into at least one container, such as
 the bag 71 (FIG. 3); and maintaining a temperature of the plurality of
 relatively small bodies in the at least one container below a freezing
 temperature of the citrus juice. An inert gas, such as nitrogen or carbon
 dioxide, for example, may be added to the container to preserve freshness.
 The step of forming the plurality of relatively small bodies 50 preferably
 comprises forming each comprising a homogenous mixture of NFC citrus
 juice. The bodies may also include citrus pulp, or may include primarily
 citrus pulp with substantially no juice. The container is preferably
 portable and may comprise a flexible bag 71, for example. The container
 may further include a generally rectangular box 76 surrounding the
 flexible bag.
 Yet another method aspect of the invention is for making citrus juice, and
 preferably comprises the steps of: supplying a plurality of frozen bodies
 each being relatively small and comprising at least one of citrus juice
 and pulp; heating the frozen bodies to thaw the frozen bodies; and filling
 juice containers 116 (FIG. 7, for example) with citrus juice. The
 relatively small frozen bodies 50 may have at least one dimension less
 than about 1.5 inches. The method may also include the step of
 pasteurizing before filling the juice containers 116.
 The present invention provides an apparatus and process of preparing and
 distributing NFC juice without, of course, any concentration and
 substantially without deterioration as compared to fresh juice. The
 present invention facilitates the making of several mixes of NFC juice
 using different types of citrus fruits, citrus fruits of different
 maturity, and different proportions of the pulp portions and the juice
 portions of these citrus fruits. The invention also meets the increased
 need for processing and hygiene improvements to ensure the health of
 customers as regards their food intake.
 The separate containers may be distributed to a local packer or blender.
 NFC juice may be prepared by selecting frozen pulp bodies and frozen juice
 bodies separately distributed to the local blender, from selected types of
 citrus fruit and in predetermined proportions. Thawing and mixing the
 selected frozen pulp bodies and frozen juice bodies can be done to obtain
 a desired blend of NFC citrus fruit juice. The NFC citrus fruit juice can
 be filled in retail containers for sale.
 The invention also provides for distributing the containers to a packer,
 and preparing NFC juice by thawing the mix of selected pulp bodies and
 juice bodies so as to obtain an NFC citrus fruit juice of a desired aroma,
 mouth feel and flavor. In this variation, the mixing of the frozen pulp
 bodies and the frozen juice bodies is made when packaging these bodies for
 the first distribution, i.e., the mix is determined and made before the
 first distribution. Hereby, when thawing the mix, a NFC citrus fruit juice
 is obtained to be used directly or to be dispensed for distribution to the
 user. Further, the quality of the thawed juice can be guaranteed by this
 premixing.
 The above-described processes and apparatus are advantageous in that they
 enable a fast freezing after extraction since no concentration of the
 extracted fruit juice is involved. Further, by freezing the pulp portion
 and the juice portion in the form of small bodies the freezing is speeded
 up, a more hygienic process is achieved and a consistent and safe quality
 may be obtained as compared to freezing times of several hours (slabs and
 blocks) or several days (drums) in the prior art. Thus, the
 above-mentioned contamination risks are reduced by the prompt freezing
 into bodies, such as in a continuous in-line process. Also, after storage
 and transport to the blender or packer, the juice bodies and pulp bodies
 can be continuously thawed together or separately in line with packaging.
 This fast freezing results in improved quality with better flavor and
 aroma. More precisely, enzymatic and bacterial activity is effectively
 stopped or reduced to an adequately low level. Also, the nutritional value
 of NFC citrus fruit juice, e.g. contents of vitamin C, will be comparable
 to that of fresh citrus fruit juice.
 The reduced, fully automated and almost enclosed processing of the NFC
 juice before and during freezing also results in less breakage or damage
 of the juice sacs of the pulp portion and thus better pulp quality and a
 better floatation which adds up to a huge quality improvement. Further, a
 substantial yield improvement is obtainable through the above processes
 according to the invention. By freezing the pulp and juice portions as
 bodies, these bodies can be stored and transported in large containers,
 such as plastic bags, which results in a reduction of cost for packaging
 compared to packaging in drums. Still, the bodies can be quickly thawed
 and easily mixed in any volume and in any selected combination for the
 retail packaging. This is a consequence of that all the bodies have the
 same concentration. Thus, the lead-times of several days to thaw drums,
 slabs or blocks at the blender or packer are eliminated, since juice and
 pulp from frozen bodies can be packaged the same day and delivered to the
 marketplace. Also, bodies can be thawed quickly in a continuous process
 where frozen bodies are added to a batch of already thawed bodies.
 As described herein the process for preparing and distributing NFC juice
 may be modified in that only the separated pulp portion or only the
 separated juice portion is frozen into bodies. In this case, the
 non-frozen portion is distributed in liquid or substantially liquid state,
 e.g., aseptically packaged.
 As a result of this quick freezing process, the frozen NFC bodies retain a
 high level of aromatic flavor components, and they have no cooked flavor
 components since no traditional heat treatment, such as pasteurisation,
 need be used. Further, the juice sacs are of higher quality, i.e., as size
 and integrity are concerned, than those of juice which has been
 concentrated in an evaporator and subsequently mixed with pulp which has
 been frozen by a slow process forming large ice crystals and migration.
 Juice sac integrity is largely controlled by the rate of freezing.
 Traditional slow freezing methods result in the formation of large ice
 crystals, which break the juice sac membranes yielding small size, broken,
 and non-floating particles. Rapid freezing, as accomplished in accordance
 with one aspect of the invention results in the formation of much smaller
 ice crystal and therefore less disruption of the juice sacs. By the rapid
 freezing of the bodies, controlled and very fast, the fresh quality
 characteristics in the pulp are saved. Further, chemical reactions are
 reduced more effectively. Accordingly, many modifications and other
 embodiments of the invention will come to the mind of one skilled in the
 art having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing
 descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be
 understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific
 embodiments disclosed, and that modifications and embodiments are intended
 to be included within the scope of the appended claims.