Hawthorn Powder

Spray-drying the juice of Crataegus pinnatifida fruit, the Chinese hawthorn or shanzha, on a maltodextrin carrier gives hawthorn powder. It is a light brown, water-soluble powder with a pronounced sour, fruity taste. Leaves and flowers of hawthorn are separate materials and are not used here.

Chinese hawthorn bears small, bright red, apple-like fruit that is very sour. That acid character carries into the powder and sets the way it is used, from sour snack seasonings to drink bases. Maltodextrin is the only carrier, and the powder dissolves in water without cooking.

SKU: BOT-FPO-0073 Category: Fruit Powders Tags: Bakery & Snacks, Fruit & Berry, Fruit Powders, Hawthorn, Seasonings & Sauces, Spray-Dried Juice

Hawthorn Juice Powder Processing

The species is Crataegus pinnatifida Bunge, the Chinese or mountain hawthorn of the rose family (Rosaceae), native to northern China and neighboring regions. It differs from the European hawthorns, Crataegus monogyna and Crataegus laevigata, whose pharmacopoeial material is leaf and flower, not fruit. The Chinese species is the traditional source of shanzha fruit, which is eaten as a food across northern China.

The raw material is hawthorn juice concentrate pressed from the fruit. The fruit contains a high share of pectin and fruit acids, so the juice is thick and tart. Maltodextrin is added to the concentrate, and the mixture is atomized in a spray dryer that flashes off the water and leaves fine, soluble particles. The carrier makes the powder soluble and free-flowing, and it also softens the sourness slightly.

The red of the fresh fruit does not carry through. Heat during concentration and drying, and browning of the sugars and phenolics, move the color from red to a light brown, which is the master color for this powder. The shade is a feature of the process, not a sign of a different species.

Hawthorn ripens in autumn and keeps well after picking, which is part of the reason it became a winter staple food in northern China. Fruit is chosen for firm flesh and deep red skin, and the juice is thick because the pulp is dense. Sourness, not sweetness, is the character that buyers expect.

Hawthorn Flavor, Color & Forms

The powder is light brown with a dried-fruit aroma, somewhere between apple, plum and dried apricot. The taste is sharply sour, with a fruity sweetness behind it and a mild astringency. In water it gives a clear to hazy amber to orange-brown liquid. Fruit acids, mainly citric and malic, produce the sourness.

Characteristic constituents of the fruit are organic acids, procyanidins and other flavonoids, triterpenic acids, pectin and sugars; the powder is described without figures. The flavonoids that make hawthorn leaf materials distinct, including the vitexin family, belong mainly to the leaf and are not claimed for this fruit powder.

Form	What It Is	Choose It When
Hawthorn Juice Powder	Spray-dried juice on maltodextrin	A soluble, sour hawthorn base is wanted
Freeze-Dried Hawthorn Powder	Whole fruit dried under vacuum	Pulp solids and fruit fiber matter
Hawthorn Fruit Extract Powder	Ratio extract of the fruit	A concentrated extract is specified
Hawthorn Extract 2–20% Flavonoids	Standardized extract with a defined flavonoid level	A flavonoid figure is needed in the specification

Typical Specifications

Specification Item	Product Information
Latin Name	Crataegus pinnatifida
Plant Part	Fruit & Berry
Processing	Spray-Dried Juice
Common Name	Hawthorn
Raw Material	Hawthorn juice concentrate
Ingredient Type	Juice Powder
Carrier	Maltodextrin
Appearance	Light Brown powder
Flavor	Sour, fruity, mildly astringent
Solubility / Dispersibility	Water Soluble
Quality Parameters
Moisture (LOD)	≤5.0%
Heavy Metals	Lead ≤2 ppm · Arsenic ≤1 ppm · Cadmium ≤1 ppm · Mercury ≤0.1 ppm
Microbiology	TPC ≤10,000 cfu/g · Yeast & Mold ≤1,000 cfu/g · E. coli Negative · Salmonella Negative/25 g
Shelf Life	24 months in unopened original packaging, cool and dry storage

Application Areas

Sour Snack Seasoning Powders

Northern Chinese sour snacks such as hawthorn flakes use a dry fruit-and-sugar base, and hawthorn powder reproduces that tart flavor in seasoning dusts for candy and fruit leather. It blends with sugar and acid, and moisture control matters because the acid-sugar mix is hygroscopic.

Sweet-Sour Drink Mixes

Sweet-sour drinks in the style of suanmeitang, the plum-and-hawthorn cooler, use hawthorn powder with sweeteners and dried plum notes. The powder dissolves in cold water to an amber drink, and the high acidity means sugar levels in the mix should be tuned.

Candied Fruit Style Confectionery

Soft candies and gummies take hawthorn powder to evoke the taste of tanghulu, the sugar-coated hawthorn skewer. The pectin in the fruit solids supports the gel, and the acid sets a bright flavor that is hard to reach with citric acid alone.

Fruit Filling Premixes

Dry fruit-filling mixes for pastries and steamed buns use hawthorn powder as a tart base that cuts sweetness. It is added to the cooled filling to protect the fruit aroma, and its brown tone suits fillings that are meant to look cooked.

Sauce and Glaze Bases

Sweet-sour sauces use hawthorn powder to supply fruit acid and color without adding the sharp smell of vinegar. It dissolves in warm water, thickens slightly because of pectin, and works well with ginger, soy and rice vinegar blends in dry sauce premixes for meat and fried dishes.

Moisture Pickup & Stability

Hawthorn powder is both acidic and sugar-bearing, a combination that makes spray-dried solids especially moisture-active. Left open in damp air, it softens, forms sticky lumps and then bonds to the drum wall. Weigh it in a dry room and close the liner immediately after each draw.

Because the fruit is high in pectin, which gives hawthorn jellies and candies their body, the powder thickens liquids at higher concentration, and it can form a gel with sugar in acid conditions. This is a feature in fillings and sauces but a problem in clear drinks, so trial the viscosity at the intended level before scale-up.

Color is the last point. The light brown shade deepens gradually under warm storage as sugars and phenolics continue to brown, and light exposure adds a slight bleaching. Keep unopened drums cool and use opened ones promptly. Because the acid and sugar attract water together, a desiccant pouch in the carton is no substitute for a well-sealed liner.

Packaging & Commercial Supply

Essencefield supports product evaluation, formulation trials, commercial orders, and ongoing ingredient supply. Packaging, storage, and shipping arrangements are determined by product characteristics, order quantity, stability requirements, and destination-market needs.

Supply Item	General Information
Sample	Available upon request for formulation, testing, and supplier evaluation
Order Quantities	100 g · 1 kg · 5 kg · 25 kg · 100 kg · 500 kg · Bulk
Sample Lead Time	Typically 5–7 days after sample confirmation
Production Lead Time	Typically 15–30 days after order and specification confirmation
Packaging	Suitable protective inner packaging with bags, cartons, drums, or other appropriate outer packaging
Storage	Store in tightly sealed, suitable protective packaging in a cool, dry environment. Protect from moisture, heat, and direct sunlight. Specific storage conditions follow the approved product specification.
Documentation	COA · Product Specification · TDS · SDS · Applicable declarations (as applicable)

Final order quantities, lead times, packaging, documentation, and shipping arrangements are confirmed according to the selected product and commercial requirements.