The impact of an industrial debittering process (DP) on nutritional and bioactive compounds in orange juice (OJ) was studied. The DP was aimed at removing bitter components in OJ by physical adsorption in a resin. The levels of bioactive compounds (carotenoids, ascorbic acid and phenolics), total antioxidant activity and the colour in the fresh orange juices (non-debittered) and in the debittered counterparts were measured. The results demonstrated that the carotenoid contents were not significantly affected by the treatment. However, the debittered orange juices showed a reduction (p <0.001) of 26% in ascorbic acid, 32% in hydroxycinnamic acids, 28% of flavones and 41% of flavanones in comparison with the non-treated juices. The antioxidant activity of the hydrophilic fraction (HF) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in untreated juice than in debittered juices. Some colour parameters (L*, a* and h(ab)) were also affected. Discriminant analysis revealed that the canonical function related to the levels of HF compounds allowed a 100% correct classifications of the different types of juices. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.