Apple Juice, Apple Spritzer and Co

Germans hold the world record for juice drinking: each of us drinks around 32 liters of fruit juice per year. Apple juice is our most popular fruit juice drink, with an annual consumption of around 7.6 liters. Pure apple juice tastes good and is healthy – but it is less suitable as a thirst quencher. This is because pure apple juice has a high content of fruit sugar (100 grams per liter) and therefore also many calories, namely up to 550 kilocalories. Apple juice also contains fruit acids, which are not so well tolerated by some.

Fitness drink apple juice spritzer

It is better there to mix the apple juice with mineral water and meet the thirst with an apple juice spritzer. Apple spritzer tastes fruity sparkling and compensates for fluid losses. A spritzer made of one part apple juice and three parts mineral water is an optimal composition. The mineral water should ideally have a high proportion of minerals such as sodium, magnesium and calcium. Apple juice spritzer is a natural fitness drink and energy booster. The apple juice contained in the spritzer naturally contains fructose and glucose as energy boosters, refreshing fruit acids, potassium, vitamins and other healthy components. Its carbohydrates quickly enter the blood and get the body and our gray cells going. Thus, during long meetings or car rides, the refreshing drink can improve memory as well as the ability to concentrate and react. A constant blood sugar level can also prevent cravings. A spritzer is also well suited as a refreshing drink during sweaty temperatures and sweaty activities: Athletes therefore swear by the mixed drink just as much as children and drivers.

Prefer apple or juice?

Apple juice spritzer is a good thirst quencher. The mineral water compensates for fluid losses and adds important minerals, and the carbohydrates from the apple juice help stabilize blood sugar. But: Apple juice and apple spritzer are not a full substitute for an apple. Because in a fresh apple are secondary plant substances as well as important dietary fibers. First and foremost is the pectin under the skin, which is good for our cholesterol level. Apples should therefore also not be peeled.

Danger of caries from apple juice and apple spritzer

Pure apple juice does not contain added sugar – but caries bacteria also like the fruit’s own sugar. They process it into acid, which softens the protective tooth enamel. The natural acid contained in apple juice also damages tooth enamel by lowering the ph level in saliva. Even the diluted form, apple juice spritzer, is hardly more tooth-friendly than pure apple juice – even with a mixing ratio of two parts water and one part apple juice. Since children are particularly susceptible to tooth decay, they should not “suck” apple juice or apple spritzer from the bottle.

Naturtrüb – what does that actually mean?

To produce a naturally cloudy juice, sorted and washed apples are crushed into mash in a mill and the juice is extracted from it in fruit presses. To make it sterile and durable, the juice is briefly heated to about 85 degrees (pasteurized). This process produces naturally cloudy (unfiltered) apple juice or apple juice with pulp. Naturally cloudy juices look as if they have just been freshly squeezed. However, this is not possible without the use of additives. For example, enzymes are added to prevent the pulp from settling to the bottom. Nevertheless, naturally cloudy juice is often more natural than clear juice, because the latter is usually rediluted from concentrate. Conversely, juices from concentrate are more stable in taste.

So much is in fruit juice and Co.

Press houses process apples first into direct juice, which is the basis for all other juices. There are about seven apples (1.5 kilograms) in one liter of direct juice. The various forms of apple juice differ in their production and fruit content:

  • Apple juice (direct juice or fruit juice from concentrate): 100%.
  • Apple nectar: 50% apple juice content.
  • Fruit juice drink: 30% apple juice shares
  • Apple spritzer: depending on the mixing ratio.

Apple juice – from direct juice or concentrate?

Apple juice always contains 100 percent fruit content, regardless of whether it is a so-called “direct juice” or “fruit juice from fruit juice concentrate.”

  • Direct juice or mother juice is the apple juice that was filtered after pressing and pressing and either immediately bottled or first stored sterile and then heated and bottled.
  • The concentrate is obtained by gently removing water under vacuum. In the redilution of concentrate to apple juice may only those substances that were withdrawn (water and own aroma concentrates) are added back.

In quality and taste, juice from concentrate is indistinguishable from directly bottled apple juice. However, the production of concentrate requires much more energy than is the case with direct juice. In addition, many concentrates come from cheap suppliers from abroad.

Apple nectar: a lot of added sugar.

An apple nectar must contain at least 50 percent apple juice. However, nectar – unlike pure apple juice – contains a high proportion of added sugar and is therefore not a lower-calorie alternative.

Fruit juice drink: low fruit juice content.

Apple fruit juice drinks may appear cheaper than apple juice at first glance. However, they consist of only 30 percent fruit juice, the rest is water, usually sweetened.

Apple spritzer – it depends on the mixture

Apple spritzer can be mixed in different proportions. However, mixing pure apple juice with water is always more recommended than nectar or a fruit juice drink.