🍎 Fruit and vegetable juices — soluble solids content (total extract) from the measurement of the refractive index, reading in percent by mass of sucrose (°Brix), acidity correction for citrus juices and temperature corrections, PN-EN 12143 (withdrawn standard)

Food chemistry PN-EN 12143

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. Scope from the PKN card, in full (our translation): "A method is presented for determining the soluble solids content of fruit and vegetable juices by measuring the refractive index of the analysed product and reading in percent by weight of sucrose on the sugar scale of the refractometer. For citrus fruit juices, the procedure for the so-called »acidity correction« and the values of corrections for temperature for substances determined refractometrically are given. Detailed data are also given on the interlaboratory studies of repeatability and reproducibility of the method using fruit juices and concentrated juices" (on the card without a full stop at the end). AFNOR summarises the French edition NF EN 12143 (December 1996, 13 pages) as follows: the document specifies a method for determining the soluble solids of fruit and vegetable juices and derived products, belonging to the set of analytical methods used to confirm the authenticity of juices. We did not have the text of the standard.

STATUS (state of the cards on 30 September 2026). The card of PN-EN 12143:2000 (Polish version) has the header "Withdrawn": published 11-01-2000, "Withdrawal date: 24-04-2024", 12 pages, price group F, Food, Agriculture and Forestry Sector, KT 38 for Fruit and Vegetable Products, ICS 67.160.20, "Introduces: EN 12143:1996 [IDT]", "Replaces: PN-A-75101-02:1990 - Polish version"; there is no "Replaced by" field, and the table of additional information has no note "Current in conformity assessment" either. AFNOR (read on 30 September 2026) marks NF EN 12143 as "Cancelled". We looked for a successor by subject: the PKN search for "refraktometryczną" (refractometric) returns only this standard, PN-A-86745:1974 (dry matter of tomato sauce in fish products, withdrawn) and PN-A-79093-2:2000 (beer); for "PN-EN ISO 2173" — no results. The predecessor, PN-A-75101-02:1990 "Fruit and vegetable products — Preparation of samples and methods of physicochemical testing — Determination of total extract content" — card: "Withdrawn and replaced by PN-EN 12143:2000", published 24-05-1990, "Withdrawal date: 02-12-2011", 7 pages, it introduced ISO 2173:1978 [IDT]; its "Scope" field lists three methods — refractometric, pycnometric and areometric (the last two measure the density of the solution); the amendment Az1:2002 is labelled "Withdrawn" in the search. In short: PN-EN 12143:2000 was withdrawn on 24.04.2024; with what it was replaced — the PKN catalogue neither indicates nor contains a current standard for the same test; for the result, the status of the reference document changes, not the method itself.

REGULATIONS. Directive 2001/112/EC on fruit juices — Annex V as worded by Directive 2012/12/EU and amended by Directive (EU) 2024/1438 (which added coconut, 4.5) — gives minimum Brix values for reconstituted fruit juice and reconstituted purée, e.g. apple 11.2, orange 11.2, grape 15.9, lemon 8.0, tomato 5.0, raspberry and strawberry 7.0. The footnote under the table decides how they are checked: for products marked with one asterisk, produced as juice — which is the case for all those listed — the minimum is determined as the relative density in relation to water at 20/20 °C; for those marked with two asterisks, produced as purée (e.g. apricot, banana, mango, pear) — only as the Brix reading without acidity correction. The regulation cites no standard, so the withdrawal of PN-EN 12143 does not conflict with it; for juices, however, it specifies a quantity — relative density — other than the refractometer reading according to this standard.

HOW MANY LABORATORIES AND IN WHAT FORM (copy of the accreditation-scope database, data loaded up to 17 September 2026, read on 30 September 2026). All notations of number 12143: 11 records at 10 laboratories — the same number of cells in the current PCA documents. All write "PN-EN 12143:2000"; AB 592 — together with "IFU No. 8 (Rev. 2017)" in the same cell. The "Laboratories" tab looks for notations that BEGIN with "PN-EN 12143" and will show all 10 laboratories — checked with the tab's query on the production server labcoda.pl on 30 September 2026: 10. Current scopes on the PCA website (read on 30 September 2026, issues from 30.10.2025 to 03.07.2026): all entries stand in the issues in force and none is suspended — all ten issues were made after the withdrawal of the standard.

QUANTITY, ITEMS AND RANGE. Names of the quantity: soluble solids content (AB 079, AB 452, AB 592, AB 705, AB 1799; AB 079 and AB 592 add "total extract"), total extract content (AB 381, AB 704), extract content (AB 444, AB 1095), soluble residue content (AB 826), dissolved substances content (AB 452, second entry). Items: fruit and vegetable juices, nectars, juice concentrates — 8 laboratories; AB 452 also purées and soft drinks, and in the second entry — fruit and vegetable products, like AB 1095; AB 826 — juices and related products "without citrus juices". Ranges: from 0.02 to 90.0 g/100 g (°Brix) (AB 592), from 0.2 % to 95 % (AB 452, products), from 0.5 to 75.0 °Brix (AB 705), from 1 % to 60 % (AB 444), from 1.0 % to 85 % (AB 1095), from 1.0 to 70.0 °Brix (AB 1799), from 1.00 % to 80.00 % m/m (AB 452), from 2.0 % to 70.0 % (AB 381) or to 70.5 % (AB 704), from 5.0 % to 70.0 % m/m (AB 079), from 10.0 to 70.0 °Brix (AB 826). Technique: refractometric method — all.

ALONGSIDE THIS STANDARD. Total extract by refractometry in fruit and vegetable products — according to PN-A-75101-02, withdrawn on 02-12-2011 (usually with Az1:2002) — is determined in current scopes by 8 laboratories: AB 079, AB 381, AB 444, AB 452, AB 704, AB 705, AB 775, AB 1095; in soft drinks — according to PN-A-79033 — by 8: clause 3.6 or 3.6.1 at AB 079, AB 381, AB 444, AB 452, AB 592, AB 704, AB 705, without a clause at AB 1095. The AIJN Code of Practice — method IFU No. 8 — is cited by AB 285 and AB 592; the content of dry soluble residue according to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 974/2014 (refractometric method for the tariff classification of fruit and vegetable products; a separate Knowledge Base entry) — by AB 411, AB 592 and AB 826; ISO 2173:2003 — by AB 1408; an in-house procedure — by AB 313.

WHERE A SEEMINGLY CORRECT RESULT IS EASY TO GET. First — status: a report citing PN-EN 12143:2000 refers to a document withdrawn on 24.04.2024 — this must be noted, because the PKN catalogue has no successor; the same applies to PN-A-75101-02, withdrawn on 02-12-2011 and still cited by 8 laboratories. Second — citrus juices: the standard provides an acidity correction for them; a reading without the correction understates the soluble solids content of juices rich in acids — AB 826 explicitly excludes citrus juices from its entry. Third — temperature: the refractometer reading depends on the sample temperature; the standard gives temperature corrections, and a refractometer without compensation requires them to be applied. Fourth — units: the result is the percent by mass of sucrose read on the sugar scale (°Brix); the ranges in accreditation scopes are given in %, % m/m, °Brix or g/100 g — this is the same measure only when read on the sucrose scale. Fifth — items: the PKN card speaks of juices, the AFNOR summary of juices and derived products; whether fruit and vegetable products (AB 452, AB 1095) fall within this cannot be established without the text of the standard. Sixth — requirements: for reconstituted juices of products marked with one asterisk, the minimum of Annex V to Directive 2001/112/EC is determined as the relative density in relation to water at 20/20 °C, and the Brix reading without acidity correction applies only to purées (two asterisks) — a refractometric result according to this standard is not the same quantity as the minimum for juice.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the standard — we do not give the preparation of samples (e.g. cloudy and concentrated juices), the requirements for the refractometer, the table of temperature corrections, the acidity correction procedure, the repeatability and reproducibility data or the calculations.

Method principle

The refractive index of the juice (or its liquid fraction) is measured in a refractometer and the result is read on the sugar scale as the percent by mass of sucrose (°Brix) — a conventional measure of the soluble solids content. For citrus juices an acidity correction is applied, and at a measurement temperature other than the reference temperature — corrections from the table of the standard. Details are NOT GIVEN — we did not have the text of the standard.

Applications

• Fruit and vegetable juices, nectars, juice concentrates — soluble solids (extract) content in the scopes of 10 laboratories
• Checking the minimum values of Annex V to Directive 2001/112/EC — for juices the regulation sets the minimum as relative density at 20/20 °C, not as a refractometer reading; the Brix reading without acidity correction — for purées

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-EN 12143:2000 (wersja polska; EN 12143:1996 IDT)

Title (PL)

Soki owocowe i warzywne — Oznaczanie zawartości substancji rozpuszczalnych metodą refraktometryczną

Title (EN)

Fruit and vegetable juices — Estimation of soluble solids content — Refractometric method

Step-by-step procedure

1. Status

   PN-EN 12143:2000 withdrawn on 24-04-2024, without a successor in the PKN catalogue (state of the card on 30 September 2026) — to be noted in the report.

2. Sample

   Juice or its liquid fraction; preparation of cloudy and concentrated juices NOT GIVEN.

3. Measurement

   Reading of the refractive index on the sugar scale of the refractometer (°Brix) at a controlled temperature.

4. Corrections and result

   Temperature correction; for citrus juices the acidity correction; result in percent by mass of sucrose.

Required equipment and apparatus

Health and safety (OHS)

• Test without particular hazards — rules for handling food samples and cleaning the refractometer prism
• SUBSTANTIVE NOTE: standard withdrawn on 24.04.2024 without a successor; citrus juices require an acidity correction

Frequently asked questions