Patent ID: 8128979

Claim:
A method for processing raw cranberry fruit to produce enhanced products, comprising the steps of: preconditioning a raw cranberry fruit, after harvest, by subjecting the raw cranberry fruit to a first sub-freezing temperature range over a first period of time to thereby allow migration of different concentrated fractions of cranberry fruit juice in the raw cranberry fruit based on brix concentration, to different localized regions within the cranberry fruit such that different concentrated cranberry fruit juice fractions can be recovered during a subsequent extracting step while the cranberry fruit is maintained in the same first sub-freezing temperature range as during said preconditioning; freezing the preconditioned cranberry fruit, subsequent to said preconditioning, by subjecting the preconditioned cranberry fruit to a second sub-freezing temperature range, below the first sub-freezing temperature range, over a second period of time shorter in length than the first period of time; thawing the preconditioned cranberry fruit, subsequent to said freezing, by subjecting the preconditioned cranberry fruit again to the first sub-freezing temperature range; tempering the preconditioned cranberry fruit, subsequent to said thawing, by maintaining the preconditioned cranberry fruit within the first sub-freezing temperature range during subsequent penetrating and extracting steps; penetrating the skin of the preconditioned cranberry fruit; and extracting and recovering from the preconditioned cranberry fruit a concentrated cranberry fruit juice in different concentrated cranberry fruit juice fractions.