Bulk Dried Orange
Source86’s dried orange line splits into two fractions of the fruit: juice and peel. Both are derived from Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck.
Juice comes as spray-dried powder, a premium low-carrier spray-dried powder, and freeze-dried powder. Peel comes as milled granules or fine powder.
Brazil, the United States, and Mexico are the major juicing-belt origins for the material, with Mediterranean and North African lots available when a different harvest window or certification scope is needed.
Product Data
| Botanical Identity | Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck, the sweet orange, sourced predominantly from Valencia and Pera fruit for juice streams and from mixed commercial varieties for peel streams. |
|---|---|
| Plant Part | Juice powders are made from the expressed juice, including pulp wash where declared. Peel formats use the full peel, comprising the outer flavedo and the inner white albedo, recovered from the same fruit after extraction. |
| Carrier Content | Standard spray-dried 35% to 50% maltodextrin, DE 10 to 20; premium spray-dried 15% to 25%; freeze-dried 0% to 15%; peel formats carry no added carrier |
| Juice Solids | Standard spray-dried 50% to 65% juice solids; premium spray-dried 75% to 85%; freeze-dried 85% to 100% |
| Water Activity | Juice powders 0.30 maximum; peel formats 0.55 maximum |
| Particle Size | Spray-dried powders 95% minimum through 40 mesh; freeze-dried powder milled to 95% minimum through 60 mesh; peel powder 95% minimum through 80 mesh |
| Cut Dimensions, Peel Granules | 2.0 mm to 4.0 mm, screened to hold fines through 30 mesh at 5% maximum |
| Bulk Density | Spray-dried powders 0.40 g/mL to 0.55 g/mL; freeze-dried powder 0.20 g/mL to 0.35 g/mL; peel granules 0.30 g/mL to 0.45 g/mL; peel powder 0.45 g/mL to 0.60 g/mL |
| Solubility | Juice powders are 98% minimum soluble in water at 20 degrees C. Peel formats are not water soluble and disperse as a suspension |
| pH | Juice powders 3.4 to 4.0 in a 10% aqueous solution; peel powder 4.5 to 5.5 |
| Titratable Acidity | Juice powders 3.0% to 6.0% as anhydrous citric acid, varying with juice solids content |
| Volatile Oil, Peel Formats | 0.5 mL to 1.5 mL per 100 g in standard dried peel. De-oiled peel is available where oil carryover interferes with a fat phase |
| Defects | Peel formats limited to 2.0% maximum scorched or dark particles and 3.0% maximum blemished material. Juice powders limited to 1.0% maximum discolored or agglomerated particles that fail to break under light pressure |
| Foreign Material | None visible. Peel formats held to 0.5% maximum seed, stem, and fibrous extraneous matter |
| Rehydration Behavior | Peel granules soften and regain pliability in 10 to 15 minutes in water above 80 degrees C at an approximate 1 to 3 hydration ratio. Juice powders dissolve rather than rehydrate |
| Microbiological Limits | Total plate count 10,000 cfu/g maximum, yeast and mold 100 cfu/g maximum, coliforms 10 cfu/g maximum, E. coli negative, Salmonella negative in 25 g |
| Treatment Status | No irradiation and no chemical fumigation. Sulfites are not added to any format. Peel lots may be steam treated for microbial reduction where a validated process is specified |
| Origin | Brazil, the United States, Mexico, Spain, Egypt, and China, with availability by form and certification scope |
| Packaging | Juice powders in 25 kg fiber drums with a foil-lined liner to control moisture pickup. Peel granules and peel powder in 20 kg or 25 kg multiwall paper bags with a polyethylene liner |
| Shelf Life | Juice powders 24 months and peel formats 18 months from production in unopened original packaging |
| Storage | Hold below 25 degrees C at 60% relative humidity or lower, away from direct light and strong odors. Juice powders require sealed storage once opened. |
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Certifications & Compliance
The records and testing below are available depending on product form, origin, processing facility, and lot.
- Certified Organic: Available on freeze-dried juice powder, peel granules, and peel powder under NOP and EU equivalence. Spray-dried formats require a certified carrier to qualify, which limits origin availability.
- Organic Traceability Records: Transaction certificates and lot-level chain of custody documentation accompany certified shipments.
- Kosher and Halal: Certification is issued at the drying facility and covers all five formats.
- Non-GMO: Statements are available, with carrier source identification for spray-dried lots since maltodextrin origin drives the claim.
- Gluten-Free: Statements supported by carrier declaration and facility allergen control.
- Certificate of Analysis: Issued per lot with moisture, water activity, particle size, color, and full microbiological panel.
- Product Specification Sheet: Covers agreed limits, methods, and format-specific values.
- Allergen Statement: Confirms no declarable allergens in the ingredient and documents facility cross-contact controls.
- Pesticide Residue Testing: Available against EPA and EU MRL panels. Peel formats warrant closer attention than juice powders because residues concentrate in the outer flavedo rather than the juice.
- Heavy Metals Testing: Lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury against applicable food-grade limits.
- Identity and Authenticity Testing: Sugar profile and acid profile analysis distinguishes genuine juice solids from added sugar or acidulant.
- Ascorbic Acid Assay: Available where a declared vitamin C value is required, reported on the as-supplied basis.
- Country of Origin Documentation and SDS: Issued per shipment to support customs clearance and plant safety files.
Production & Sourcing
Supply is anchored in Brazil and the United States because both regions pair large-scale juicing infrastructure with the evaporation and drying capacity needed to convert perishable juice into a shelf-stable powder at commercial volume. Mexican and Egyptian fruit extend coverage into different harvest windows, and Mediterranean lots are used where organic certification scope or a specific varietal profile is required. Because peel is recovered from the same extraction lines that produce juice, both streams follow one sourcing path and share upstream traceability.
- Harvesting and Fruit Selection: Fruit is picked at commercial maturity, with the juice-to-acid ratio confirmed before delivery so downstream Brix and acidity land within specification. Certified organic lots are harvested from separately registered groves and identified at intake.
- Extraction and Stream Separation: Washed fruit is juiced on inline extractors. Juice is screened to the specified pulp level and routed to concentration, while intact peel is recovered from the same pass and routed to the drying line. This is the point where the two product families diverge.
- Juice Concentration: Screened juice is evaporated to a concentrate near 65 Brix under vacuum, which reduces the water load carried into the dryer and lowers thermal exposure per unit of solids. Aroma volatiles stripped during evaporation are captured and returned where a full-flavor profile is specified.
- Drying, Juice Stream: Concentrate is either spray-dried through an atomizing nozzle against heated air, or frozen and sublimated under vacuum for freeze-dried lots. Spray-dried formats require a maltodextrin carrier to raise the glass transition temperature of the sugar-rich matrix, without which the powder will not release from the dryer wall. Premium spray-dried runs at a reduced carrier ratio, and freeze-dried runs at the lowest carrier level the process allows.
- Drying, Peel Stream: Recovered peel is washed, sized, and dried in staged tunnel or belt dryers at controlled temperature to hold color and volatile oil. De-oiling and de-bittering passes are applied only when specified, since both reduce the aromatic strength the peel is usually bought for.
- Milling, Sizing, and Blending: Dried peel is milled and screened to granule or powder specification. Freeze-dried cake is milled to target mesh. Lots are blended to a consistent color and flavor standard, then passed through magnets, sifters, and metal detection.
- Packing and Documentation: Material is packed into lined units under humidity control, with certified lots run on cleaned lines and packed against segregated inventory. Each lot ships with a certificate of analysis and a retained sample tied to grove intake records.
Applications
- Powdered Beverage and Drink Mix Manufacturing: Instant drink mixes, effervescent tablets, stick packs, and dry beverage bases built around citrus as the lead flavor.
- Bakery and Pastry: Sweet goods, muffins, cookies, glazes, icings, and fruit fillings across both industrial and craft-scale production.
- Confectionery and Chocolate: Hard candy, chews, panned centers, gummies, and compound coatings in the citrus segment.
- Snacks, Bars, and Breakfast Cereals: Granola, extruded cereal, clusters, and nutrition bars, where peel granules also serve as a visible inclusion.
- Dairy and Frozen Desserts: Yogurt, cultured drinks, ice cream, sorbet, and frozen novelty lines.
- Tea, Botanical, and Seasoning Blends: Loose-leaf and bagged tea blends, mulling mixes, dry rubs, and savory spice systems.
- Supplement and Functional Powder Manufacturing: Drink sticks, greens and reds blends, chewable tablets, and effervescent formats.
Physical & Functional Characteristics
Spray-dried and peel powder grades are uniform fine powders. Freeze-dried material is a lower-density porous powder. Peel granules are irregular, free-flowing flecks.
Juice powders sit in the light to medium orange range and read brighter in freeze-dried lots. Peel formats are pale orange to tan, muted by the white albedo carried with the flavedo.
Juice powders are sweet and tart with a clean finish. Peel formats are aromatic with a mild bitter edge that reads as citrus zest rather than sweetness.
Bright and immediate in freeze-dried material, moderate in spray-dried, and oil-driven in peel formats where the aroma builds on grinding or steeping.
Juice powders are smooth and non-gritty in solution. Peel granules retain a perceptible bite when used as an inclusion, and peel powder is fine enough to avoid a gritty mouthfeel at normal use levels.
All formats sit in the low moisture, low water activity range, with peel holding more residual moisture than juice powder because it is air dried rather than atomized or sublimated.
Juice powder is sugar dominant, reflecting the natural fructose, glucose, and sucrose of the fruit concentrated by water removal. Peel formats are fiber dominant with negligible sugar. Naturally occurring ascorbic acid is present at reduced levels after drying, and fortification is available on request.
Peel formats are single-ingredient materials. Juice powders declare the carrier alongside juice solids, and the carrier percentage is the main compositional difference between the three grades.
Freeze-dried material is the most fragile and generates fines under mechanical conveying or over-tight compaction. Peel granules resist breakage but shed some dust on repeated transfer.
Humidity exposure is the primary risk for juice powders, driving caking and color darkening. Heat and light exposure fade peel color and volatilize the oil fraction that carries its aroma.
Vegan, vegetarian, and free of declarable allergens across all formats. Carrier source matters for corn-free programs on spray-dried grades.
Spray-dried powders compact under load in stacked storage and may require breaking up before dosing, while freeze-dried material fractures rather than packing.
Funcionality
- Cold Water Dissolution: Juice powders go into solution without heat, with freeze-dried material clearing faster and more completely than spray-dried because its porous structure wets more readily.
- Acid Contribution: Naturally occurring citric acid lowers finished pH, which supports pectin gel set, sharpens flavor perception, and reinforces preservative efficacy without a separate acidulant addition.
- Dose Control of Juice Solids: A declared juice solids percentage lets formulators calculate juice equivalence per batch and hold it constant when switching between standard, premium, and freeze-dried grades.
- Dry Blend Compatibility: The maltodextrin carrier in spray-dried grades keeps particles free flowing and closely matched in density to sugars and other dry ingredients, which limits segregation in large blends.
- Aroma Delivery Through Process Heat: Freeze-dried material carries more intact volatile aroma into a formulation but loses it faster under baking or retort, while spray-dried material starts lower and holds more of what it has.
- Hygroscopic Behavior: The sugar-rich juice matrix draws moisture from ambient air and from adjacent ingredients, so caking risk rises in humid rooms and in blends with high water activity components.
- Fiber Contribution: Peel formats add insoluble citrus fiber that binds free water and firms crumb or bar texture in small inclusion percentages.
- Infusion and Progressive Flavor Release: Peel granules soften in hot water and release oil and flavor over the steep rather than all at once, which suits tea and mulling systems.
- Fat Phase Dispersion: Peel powder disperses through compound coatings and fat-based fillings without hydrating, so it carries citrus character into systems that cannot tolerate water.
Benefits for Commercial Manufacturing
- Ambient Logistics in Place of Cold Chain: Powdered juice solids ship and store at room temperature, which removes the frozen concentrate cold chain and its associated handling risk from the supply plan.
- Lower Freight and Storage Cost per Unit of Juice Solids: Removing water before shipping concentrates far more usable solids into the same pallet position than liquid or frozen formats allow.
- Grade Selection Against Cost and Flavor Targets: Three juice powder grades let a buyer trade carrier load against aroma strength and juice solids declaration without qualifying a new supplier for each tier.
- Peel as a Lower-Cost Citrus Input: Formulators can hold citrus character in a recipe without qualifying juice solids as a separate, higher-cost line item.
- Origin Flexibility Across Hemispheres: Northern and Southern Hemisphere harvest windows allow contracting to continue through a poor crop year or a regional disease event in any single region.
- Organic Chain of Custody: Segregated handling, identified intake, and transaction records let certified lots carry through into a certified finished product without a documentation gap.
- Documentation Ready for Supplier Approval: Specification sheets, allergen statements, residue panels, and lot-level analysis support both initial qualification and routine incoming inspection.
- Packaging Suited to Dry Blending Rooms: Lined units in 20 kg and 25 kg sizes protect against moisture pickup and size the material for single-charge handling at the blender.
- Straightforward Label Declaration: Peel formats declare as a single ingredient, and juice powders declare juice solids and carrier plainly, which keeps ingredient statements short and defensible.
