Abstract
Japan has fully opened its market to overseas fruit juice suppliers as from April 1, 1991, after experiencing very strict import restrictions implemented after the world war II. This change is affecting substantially the Japanese fruit juice industry which has been heavily relied on mandarin juice, made from locally grown satsuma mandarin fruit and juice diluted products rather than 100 % juice. Citrus juice occupied about 50 % of the total juice consumed in 1992 and 100 % consumption in the same year reached 34 % of juice market share. As more imported sweet orange and other juices and more 100 % juice consumption is expected, the local satsuma mandarin fruit growers and mandarin juice manufactures meet with difficulties. Mandarin juice is very heat sensitive, bringing unfavorable flavor once it is heattreated. In order to overcome this chemical change, we have developed a special sterilization process by the use of ultra high pressure, which requires practically no heat. After making some tests during 1991/1992 mandarin crop season, we went into the commercial production of satsuma mandarin juice in the 1992/1993 season.
