Fruit and vegetable juices

Find information on the production process and FAQs at www.safja.co.za, website of the South African Fruit Juice Association.

Fruit and vegetable juice are drinks produced by squeezing or crushing fruit and vegetables.

The market can be categorised as fruits, vegetable, and mixed. Fruits are divided into mango, apple, guava, pomegranate, grape, orange, lemon, pineapple, and others. Orange Juice continues to be the most preferred juice. Vegetables are divided into carrot, beetroot, tomato, pumpkin and others (Insight Survey, 2023).

In South Africa, there are specific regulations relating to fruit juice and what they may contain in terms of additives and preservatives, and that sets the definition for what a fruit juice must be called, based on its composition:

• Fruit drinks – a minimum pure fruit juice content of 6%.
• Carbonated fruit drinks – in addition to carbonation effects these should provide nutritional elements of the fruit along with natural pigments and flavour.
• Nectar – should include a minimum of 12.5% to 50% pure fruit juice content, depending on the type of fruit used. For instance, orange nectar requires a minimum of 50% pure orange juice and lemon nectar a minimum of 12.5% pure juice.
• Pure fruit juice is classified into two sub-categories, unsweetened fruit juice, which includes 100% pure fruit juice and sweetened fruit juice, which comprises 70-90% pure juice, depending on the type of fruit used in the juice e.g. lemon – 70% minimum pure lemon juice, orange – 90% pure orange juice).

Source: The South African Juice Industry Landscape Report and www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/168/98731.html