Chapter 5
Color Quality of Cranberry Products David G. Cunningham, Antelmo F. Santos, and Rodney A. Serres
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Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc., 1 Ocean Spray Drive, Lakeville, MA 02349
The American cranberry, Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton, is a fruit with a number of unique and desirable attributes that has found its way into a wide variety of food products. In addition to its growing reputation as a healthy fruit, cranberries are known for their distinctive taste and color. Whereas the taste of cranberries is highly acidic and consumer preference testing has necessitated the development of products with adjusted Brix to acid ratios, the crimson red color of cranberries is naturally appealing, from their aesthetics in the field to when they are finally consumed. Next to crop yield, fruit color is the attribute paid most attention to by growers. Growers strive to grow and deliver fruit with high color, while handlers and processors strive to manage fruit inventory and processing to optimize color usage in their products. The recent development and popularity with consumers of white cranberry juice beverages has introduced additional and entirely new challenges to cranberry growers, handlers and processors. This chapter will discuss grower, handler and processor practices that enable the delivery of cranberry products with high and consistent color quality to consumers.
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© 2008 American Chemical Society
In Color Quality of Fresh and Processed Foods; Culver, C., et al.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2008.
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Introduction Cranberries are the small, red fruit of the perennial Vaccinium macrocarpon. The fruits are typically 1-2 centimeters in diameter, weigh 1-2 grams, and are known for their bright crimson red color. Vaccinium is classified under the Ericaceae family. Other Vaccinium species include the European cranberry (V. oxycoccus), the highbush cultivated blueberry (V. corymbosum), the lowbush blueberry (V. angustifolium) and the lingonberry (V vitis idaea). Cranberries are one of the few cultivated berries of significant commercial value that are indigenous to North America, along with blueberry and fox grape {Vitis labrusca), known for the Concord grape cultivar. The name cranberry evolved from craneberry, which originated with colonists who thought the shape of the plant's flower resembled the neck, head and bill of a crane (7). Figure 1 shows the cranberry flower and ripened fruit. Cranberry plants are propagated by sticking cuttings into the soil. The cuttings root and grow by sending out lateral shoots from which new vertical shoots (uprights) develop. Flowers form on the uprights.
Figure 1. Cranberry Flower (left) and Fruit (right) (See page 4 of color inserts.)
While there are many native selections and cultivars of cranberries, commercially nine cultivars predominate and just two, 'Early Black' and 'Stevens', account for approximately 60% of acreage in production. 'Early Black' is a native selection dating back to 1857 and 'Stevens' is a hybrid introduced by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1950 (7). While considered a minor crop, the worldwide production of cranberries has averaged around 800 million pounds per year over the past three years (20032005) (2,5). The United States accounted for about 78% of the crop, while 20%
In Color Quality of Fresh and Processed Foods; Culver, C., et al.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2008.
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was produced in Canada, and 2% was grown in Chile. The Ocean Spray Cranberry cooperative was formed over 75 years ago to market the fruit grown by its members, currently 648 growers in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Oregon, Washington and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Quebec, who together currently deliver about 65% of the worldwide crop. The cranberry industry represents a $2.5 billion worldwide market (2006 estimate) whose products include fresh fruit, juices, sauces and dried fruit. There is also a growing business for cranberry ingredient products such as frozen fruit, juice concentrate, juice concentrate powder and nutraceutical extract powders. Color is a desirable and important quality attribute for many of these products.
Proximate Composition The composition of single strength (7.5° Brix) cranberry juice is shown in Table I (4). Carbohydrates, primarily sugars (3.7 g) and organic acids (3.1 g), account for 97% of the total solids. Pigments represent about 0.6 % of the total solids. As with most agricultural products, fruit composition varies due to factors such as variety, maturity, growing location and environmental stresses, while processing effects can further impact the composition of the materials derived from the fruit. Of these factors, growing location appears to have the greatest impact on pigment content.
Table I. Proximate Composition of 7.5 °Brix Juice (100 g) Water
92.9 g
Solids - Carbohydrates
7.1g 6.9 g
- Minerals
96 mg
- Pigments
40 mg
- Vitamin C
2 mg
- Protein
