Our noni juice production standards

The noni fruit are delivered directly to an enclosed processing plant where they are graded and inspected. All post-harvest treatment takes place in an enclosed workroom, which is separated from any gross dust created by vehicles etc in the loading bay. Any bruised or damaged fruit not rejected at harvest is removed at inspection. Any twig or leaf material that is inadvertently harvested is removed at the inspection stage. The noni fruit are then washed by a brush washer in fresh potable municipal water. Water is not re-circulated. The fruit are blown with clean air to remove superficial liquid. All fruit is made into juice within 8 hours of harvesting.

Process water temperature is regulated to near ambient, to ensure that it is never more than 5.6°C (10°F) cooler than the fruit. This is done in accordance with GAP to reduce water and potential contaminant ingress to the fruit pulp via minor scars and skin blemishes. The product is untouched by hand after washing of the fruit.  After inspection, the fruit are conveyed to disinfected/sterilized containers, and covered for a period of 2 - 4 weeks to ripen naturally. By completing ripening within the process facility, harvesting damage to softened fruit is minimized. This also minimizes loss of fruit due to falling and maximizes juice yield as fibres in the fruit break down. Once the fruit has ripened according to our producer's standards, and has been tested for quality, it is processed by a Brown Model 202 Pulper/Finisher or equivalent machine. This removes skin and seeds and breaks the remaining flesh into a puree. The Pulper/ Finisher is of the paddle type, and the concentricity of paddle and screen prevent breakage of seeds.

The puree and juice produced by the first Pulper/Finisher is pumped to a second Finisher, a Brown Model 303 or equivalent. The Brown Model 303 is of the twin-screw type, and is equipped with a very fine screen that separates the juice from the pulp. The excess pulp is expelled and pumped to a receiving vessel for processing into animal feed.

The noni juice is pumped from the Second Finisher to one of several Holding Tanks. The juice my be flash pasteurised directly from the holding tanks or subjected to three minor variations:
1) Mixed with other (non-noni) juices for palatability, then flash pasteurised. The proportion of Noni juice in such cases would be no less than 85%, and typically no more than 97%.
2) Concentrated by thermal evaporation and subsequently frozen;
3) Dried for subsequent reconstituting at a bottlers.

Fresh and Mixed Juices:
Fresh and mixed juices are pasteurised under a ‘flash’ or High Temperature Short Time (HTST) regime that raises the temperature to 88°C for 4 seconds. Pasteurization destroys pathogens. Pasteurised juice is filled into: 1,000 litre aseptic totes; aseptic 200 litre (55 US gal) drums; or bottled in controlled conditions into sterile washed and rinsed glass or PET plastic containers.

Concentrated Juice:
Where evaporative concentration is practiced, the degree of concentration is determined partly by customer specifications, but always to a total sugars concentration of at least 45 Brix. The high temperatures of evaporative concentration also destroy and inactivate pathogens, and high sugar concentrations are a well-established means to inhibit further bacterial growth. Bacterial growth depends on adequate water activity aw, and if water activity can be reduced below approximately 0.91 most infectious, spoilage and food poisoning organisms are inactivated.

Concentrated juice is filled into bulk aseptic drums or totes and then frozen for transport. Freezing is purely precautionary – due to the high sugar content and the lack of any tendency on the part of noni juice to ferment. The concentrate is subsequently reconstituted with water and pasteurized before bottling.

Dried (for Reconstituting) Juice:
Some juice is dried for subsequent reconstituting by a bottler, to a water content of less than 4% by weight. Drying kills pathogens and reduces water activity to a level at which microbial activity is extremely low.
 

Hygiene Standards and Quality Control

Our noni juices are produced under hygienic conditions, according to Council Directive 93/43/EEC (1993), by a combination of Good Agricultural Practice (GAP), Good Hygiene Practice (GHP) and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). In addition, cultivation has been certified as Organic; this ensures that there can be no synthetic chemical residues on the noni fruit.

Good Agricultural Practices as defined globally (FAO, 2003), comprise a range of measures for agriculture which is sustainable, efficient and non-polluting by taking a life cycle approach to environmental hygiene, hygienic production (water, manure, soil, agricultural chemicals, biological control, indoor facilities, personal hygiene); handling; storage; transport; cleaning; maintenance; and sanitation.  Within this framework, specific guidance is available for minimising microbial contamination of fruit and vegetable products. The standards applied to our producer's juices are those recommended for best practice in the USA, by the US FDA (1998) and in an excellent presentation from Cornell University (2001).

The focus of GAP in microbial hygiene of fruit is upon faecal Salmonella, Shigella and coliforms, and prevention is rightly regarded as more effective than cure. In accordance with the guidelines, LoF Farms practice centres upon: Cultivation; Harvesting; and Post-harvest treatment.

As Beuchat (1998) points out, removal of heavy microbial contamination on fruit arising from cultivation and/or harvest is much more difficult and less satisfactory than minimising contamination in the first place. It is the role of Good Agricultural Practices to achieve this. The complementary role of Good Manufacturing Practices is to prevent contamination (or growth, from very low levels, of existing contamination) during subsequent processing.

The aims of GAP in cultivation are to prevent contact of the fruit with manure or with wildlife, human or pet faeces whether ground- or water-based. The noni fruit is an above-ground arboreal crop, and has no direct contact with the soil or terrestrial faeces.

Although the noni juices are subsequently pasteurised, the microbial protection strategy up to the point of noni juice expression actually follows published best practice in the cultivation, harvesting and post-harvest treatment of fruit and vegetables to be eaten raw.