Grape juice concentrate is used frequently as a food ingredient and has the advantage of being a means of adding sugar to other products in a natural form. The only sugars are found in Concord grapes are glucose, fructose and sucrose, and the major nonvolatile acids found were tartaric and malic.
The Concord grape variety is chiefly used for the manufacture of grape juice. Approximately 96% of the juice made in New York state is prepared from Concord Grapes. Natural acidity, color and aroma of fresh grape berries provide quality in single strength Concord grape juice. Acidity above 0.85% results in juice that is too tart.
The quality of grape juice can be described almost entirely by its chemistry. Juice color is caused by anthocyanins, their glucosides and condensation products, its taste, by acids, sugars and phenolics and its aroma by diverse moisture of volatile secondary metabolites in very low concentration.
Hot pressing of the grapes is important to extract anthocyanin pigments, flavor components, amino acids, organic acids, sugars, minerals, tannins, and other ingredients.
Today Concord grapes are grown in the US states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan, with the largest producer being Washington.
Concord grape juice
