SUGARCANE JUICE EXTRACTION AND PRESERVATION PROCESS WITHOUT ADDING CONSERVATIVES AND CHEMICAL ADDITIVES FIELD OF THE INVENTION

It is related to a process to obtain and preserve the juice taken from the sugarcane in an aseptic unit pack keeping its original characteristics of color and taste without adding any chemical products along the process BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Sugarcane juice is obtained from triturating and grinding the sugarcane It exclusively comes from a vegetable and at the extraction instant the sugarcane juice is a beverage rich in carbohydrates having a delicate fragrance The just extract sugarcane juice rapidly ferments due to microorganisms contamination Being rich in carbohydrates and having a low acidity the juice, which is not processed, allows the growing of yeasts, of decomposition bacteria and of pathogenic bacteria such as the salmonella and other ones The juice's contamination may occur at the sanitization step, grating, triturating and grinding of the sugarcane, the contamination may also happen due to the sugarcane juice's pack lack of asepsis The great challenge has been the preservation of the sugarcane juice in a pack for a sufficiently long period so it can be traded to the final consumer

A lot of attempts for trading the sugarcane juice have been tried The developed methods and processes can be gathered in a first group starting from the principle that the juice is already contaminated during the sugarcane juice extraction process and use chemical products such as acidulants and preservatives to preserve the juice from microorganisms Such procedure affects the juice's color and taste making the final consumer turn it down In this group can be found the patent application PI 0500806-9 "Producao Industrial de Caldo de Cana ", a lot of applications belonging to this group are named in International Application PCT/IB2002/005411 "Flavoured Sugarcane juice

in Aseptic Unit Packs", filed in Brazil under number PI 0215989-9 "Caldo de Cana-de- Acucar Aromatizado em Embalagens de Unidade Asseptica". In a second group can be found the ones where the solution is in the aseptic pack as the application of model of utility number MU 7800298-2 "Embalagem descartavel para cana-de-acucar..." and the patent application number PI 0215989-9 cited above. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The sugarcane juice extraction and preservation process hereby described refers to a method to obtain the sugarcane juice in an aseptic pack keeping the juice's original characteristics of color and taste without adding any chemical product along said process. The steps of the process comprise: sanitization of the sugarcane followed by its grating and grinding, sifting the juice, pasteurization and packing of the juice in distinctive aseptic packs. There's no need to triturate the sugarcane and add chemical products.

Figure 1 shows a flowchart of the process in which the grating(l) step is followed by the grinding(2) step; sifting(3) separates the sugarcane' s bagasse(5) and the juice(3) which is stored in the reservoir(4); the juice is pasteurized(6) and filled(7) in distinctive aseptic packs which are stored(8) in warehouses or distribution centers. The process comprises: a) Grating(l) the outer layer of the sugarcane through mechanical means so the existing microorganisms, coming from the field and concentrated in its husk, are taken out; the cleaned stem enters a sanitized environment to be submitted to the grinding process; b) Grinding(2) is performed by compressing the sugarcane between a pair of parallel cylinders. The cylinders are sufficiently near the grating machine so the gap of time between grating(l) and grinding(2) steps is of only a few seconds. Bringing the grating(l) step closer to the grinding(2) step avoids contamination by contact

or handle of the already grated sugarcane and the short gap of time between the two steps of the process avoids contamination from the environment, c) Sifting(3) is natural, by gravity, separating the solid residues from the juice just gotten from the grinding(2) step, d) Storing(4) the juice in a reservoir(4) The reservoir(4) acts like a "lung" in the process, e) Pasteurizing(ό) the juice at a temperature of 108 ⁰ C during 30 seconds maximum at 0,8 Bar pressure , f) Packing(7) the pasteurized juice in aseptic packs for storage(8) and for future trading

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The process is characterized by the asepsis in all the steps discharging the adding of chemical products, conservatives, coloring thickeners, stabilizers, acidulants, anti-rusts or aromatics keeping the nutritional characteristics for over 7 (seven) months The applicability of the process is certified by the Final Expert's Report No

MB4298/09 "Analise Microbiolόgicas e Fisico-quimica" issued on 04/09/2006 by ITAL -

Instituto de Tecnologia de Alimentos, Campinas/SP, Brazil

Taking a sample of sugarcane juice packed on July 05, 2006 at the ITAL -

TECNOLAT in Campinas/SP, in a four layers aseptic cardboard box pack, according to the methodology of FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (FDA) - USA, and of the

DOWNES, F P and K ITO - 2001 "Compendium of Methods for the microbiological examination of foods" from American Public Health Association, Washington, D C , the following results were achieved

Items Result Acidtolerant mesophyllum microorganisms None

Acidtolerant thermophilic microorganisms None

Molds None

Yeasts None

Comments: The samples are in accordance with the microbiological standards established by Resolution RDC No. 12, of 02/01/2001 from ANVISA, being considered commercially steril.

In another method the preservation of the sugarcane juice can be achieved by filling the juice, taken from the sugarcane using the process and means above described, in aseptic glass pots closed with a hermetic Hd, steeping it for 15 minutes in boiling water (100 ⁰ C) achieving the "in vitro" sterilization. With such procedure the validity period of the sugarcane juice filled in the glass pot is over 12 (twelve) months. Although such procedure has not been tested yet in a laboratory it has been confirmed by performed sensorial tests.

Even though the sugarcane juice has been extract in a aseptic way as above described, it will always depend on the quality of the pack which it will be packed in.

A variation of the present invention refers to diversifying the taste by adding(9) lemon juice to the sugarcane juice in a rate of 1% to 2% of lemon juice. Besides diversifying the taste of the sugarcane juice, the natural lemon juice rises the PH of the sugarcane juice enlarging the preservation period and rendering more safety to the sugarcane juice's quality. Diversifying the taste is also achieved by adding the juice from other fruits such as "maracuja" and pineapple.