Determination of Stable Isotopes, Minerals, and Volatile Organic Compounds in Romanian Orange Juice

ABSTRACT

Twenty-three commercial orange juice varieties were characterized on the bases of isotopic, elemental, and volatile organic concentrations. One goal of this study was to evaluate the authenticity of the samples by the determination of exogenous water and sugar. Volatile organics and elemental profiles were determined to evaluate the nutritional quality of the juice. Results showed that all of the products were produced from concentrate by dilution with water and contained exogenous sugar. A new flavor index was proposed as the ratio of total sesquiterpenes to total terpenes without limonene to assess the quality of these juice samples.

KEYWORDS:

• Elemental analysis
• flavor quality index
• food safety
• stable isotope