What Is Cold-Pressed Juice and Why You Should Drink It

source: getthegloss.com

You must be aware of the existence of cold-pressed juice. But, do you know what a cold-pressed juice is? Why cold-pressed juice has attained such popularity? And finally, is it really that good for your health? All these questions will find an answer here, so get ready to find out everything you need to know about cold-pressed juice.

What Is Cold-Pressed Juice?

Cold-pressed juice is the extract of farm-picked, fresh fruits and vegetables that captures and preserves their nutrients in the purest form, without the addition of any external preservative and heat exposure.

Cold-pressed juice got its name from the procedure that is used to extract it. This two-step process makes sure that there is no heat involved in order to preserve the nutrients, color, and flavor of the fruit. One of the special requirements of the process is that the temperature of the room and that of the fruits should be low.

The cold-pressed juicer is specially designed in such a way that the whole process works gently on fruits — it first grinds and then presses the whole product to create a fine natural juice with all the nutrients intact. In another end, centrifugal juicers are a bit harsh on fruits, produce heat, and thus kill some essential nutrients.

The History of Cold-Pressed Juice

It has not been very long since cold-pressed juice attained its popularity, though they have been produced for several decades. On a commercial level, they were first introduced in 1996 by a company called ‘Liquiteria’ in New York City. The juice and its benefits were then acquired by the rest of the world.

Today, some of the biggest cold-pressed juice companies are Blueprint, Evolution Fresh, Juice Generation, and Suja, which have generated a revenue of more than $15 Million in their first year of operation.

As people are now getting more and more familiar with the benefits of cold-pressed juice, its demand is increasing with each passing day, resulting in an increase in the number of companies that are using this technology for juice extraction.

Before discussing anything else, let’s first discuss the benefits of cold-pressed juice.

The Benefits of Cold-Pressed Juice

If I offer you two glasses of juice and state that one is full of natural vitamins, minerals, and enzymes, and the other is processed, devoid of natural vitamins, minerals, and enzymes, which glass would you choose? Obviously, the second one, AKA the one that would add more value to your health.

That is exactly the difference between a glass of cold-pressed juice and juice extracted using other means. The many benefits of cold-pressed juice can be calculated right from the time of fruit selection until the time it goes into your body:

1. The fruits selected for cold-pressed juice extraction are fresh and usually (not necessarily) organic to get the maximum health benefits
2. Cold-pressed juices are free from artificial ingredients and caffeine
3. Two hydraulic plates are used to press the fruit pulp at high pressure and take out the maximum amount of juice while leaving behind the dry fiber devoid of vitamins and minerals that can be dumped
4. The vitamins, minerals and live enzymes in a fruit are so delicate that even a minor exposure to heat can damage them. The process of taking out cold-pressed juice is designed in such a way that absolutely no amount of heat is involved in the whole procedure, leaving the juice extract filled with all the nutrients in their purest form
5. The process also greatly preserves the taste and the color of the fruit. You will get 100% of the original color, flavor and freshness you can get from a real fruit if you consume the juice within the prescribed shelf-life

Let us now understand the complete process behind a bottle full and healthy cold-pressed juice.

The Cold Pressed Juice Process

The whole cold-pressed juice procedure can be divided into two stages:

1. Shredding Stage: During the shredding stage, the machine gently shreds the fruits and vegetables to a pulp. This initial stage makes sure that each and every drop of juice or liquid extract can be taken out by transforming the fruit into pulp and making it easier for the plates to press.

2. Hydraulic Press: The main process is the hydraulic pressing in which two hydraulic plates press the fruit pulp between them with high pressure to take out all the liquid content. This 100% original juice is collected into a collection tray, leaving behind the dry roughage or fiber that can be discarded.

It is a simple process of pressing fruit pulp without any heat so that the color, nutrients, and flavor can be maintained in its highest and purest quality.

The Demand of Cold Pressed Juice

As our lives are getting increasingly busy and the environment increasingly contaminated with harmful chemicals and pollutants, it’s become very important to have something that can take us as close to nature as possible.

Increasing awareness about health and organic food products has also resulted in a surge of cold-pressed juice demand; a demand that will go reach a significant high in the coming years.

According to Persistence market research, the global sales of cold-pressed juice in 2016 was close to about US $492 million, which will grow to an amount of $845 million in 2024.

Cold-Pressed Juice Delivery

After talking about the benefits and processes, it’s time to talk about delivery.

Cold-pressed juice should be delivered fresh and pure by keeping the product at the right temperature. The delivery and consumption of the best quality product directly depend on its shelf-life, and a great amount of attention is required, as cold-pressed juice has a small shelf-life of only 2 to 3 days.

The concept of a shelf-life and the delivery of a fresh product is not as small as it seems. Because both are interconnected, the shelf life of a product totally depends on the quality of raw-fruit selected for the juice. For example, take a look at the factors that can affect the shelf-life and, consequently, the delivery time of the juice.

Factors Affecting the Shelf-Life and Delivery Time of Cold Pressed Juice

Here are some of the factors that affect the shelf-life and delivery time of cold-pressed juice:

1. If the selected fruits or vegetable are rotten, or if they have been cut too much in advance, the product will already start to oxidize before the juicing process. In this case, the shelf-life and color and taste of the juice will reduce drastically.
2. Another factor is the maintenance of the juicing machine. It is very important that the machine should be cleaned properly in order to avoid the formation of bacteria during any of the stages. If that happens and the juice becomes contaminated, its shelf life will be affected.
3. The third factor is temperature control. Cold-pressed juices should be taken out and preserved at lower temperatures to maintain their best quality. The temperature factor applies to each and every stage of cold-pressed juicing, right from the preservation of fruits to the delivery of juice. Not maintaining the right temperature while delivering the juice will not only affect its shelf-life but also its color and flavor.

Product quality, shelf-life, and product temperature are the most important factors to take care of while delivering cold-pressed juice.

We have talked about many aspects related to cold-pressed juice, and hopefully, this article has helped you in acquiring a better understanding towards. It’s a storehouse of natural goodness for health — introduce it into your routine and take a step toward wellness.