This operation is carried out by heating the beverage and preserving it for a prescribed time at that temperature, followed by cooling to a level applicable to the next step of the process.
Pasteurization lines are based on principle of product heating, using a heat exchanger, after which the required pasteurization temperature is held for a defined period in a holding tube to achieve the desired thermal effect. Product is then cooled prior to filling.
Thermal pasteurization is the process most widely used in the food and beverage industry to ensure their safety. Pasteurizing is now of almost universal use in all wine-producing countries. It has largely superseded sulphurizing, and with the filter, which has largely supplanted the use of finings, has very greatly benefited and improved the wine product of the world, as well as removed the greatest danger and most frequent source of loss in the process of wine-making.
With pasteurization, not only are pathogenic microorganisms killed but also a wide range of spoilage organisms are destroyed.
In cider processing, pasteurization is one of methods used for stabilizing of ciders where the cider is heated to a sufficiently high temperature to kill the yeast and bacteria present. The other two methods are mechanical and chemical.
Pasteurized juices have been heated to high temperatures for a short time in order to kill any bacteria or other microorganisms that may be present. When fruits and vegetables are made into fresh-squeezed juice, harmful bacteria may be present and become part of the finished product. Most juice in the United States is pasteurized to kill harmful bacteria.
Pasteurization process of beverages
