Application of stabilizers in beverage industry

Beverage stabilizer consists of two parts, thickener and emulsifier. Thickeners can increase the concentration of the beverage, so that it has sufficient buoyancy to ensure uniform suspension of particles; emulsifiers can increase the hydrophilicity of the lipids in the beverage, so that the beverage juice and the lipids are mutually soluble and stably dispersed; When used together, it can synergistically improve the flavor and quality.

1. Application in fruit and vegetable beverages

Fruit and vegetable beverages are juice products obtained from fruits as raw materials through physical methods such as pressing, centrifugation, extraction, etc., generally referring to pure fruit and vegetable juice or 100% fruit and vegetable juice.
Fruit and vegetable juices are divided into two phases, clarification and turbidity according to their form. The evaluation indicators of fruit and vegetable beverages include color, taste and appearance.
Fruit and vegetable juices are prone to delamination through natural sedimentation or physical action, which seriously affects the overall quality of the beverage. Commonly used stabilizers include pectin, agar, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), xanthan gum, sodium alginate, etc.

2. Application in vegetable protein beverages

Plant protein beverages are rich in nutrition, the market is becoming more and more extensive, and the industrial production technology is becoming more and more mature.
The product development has a variety of colors, such as cocoa soy milk, coconut soy milk, fruit juice soy milk and peanut soy milk, which greatly enriched the beverage market, and put forward higher requirements on the color, flavor and organization of the product.
In order to develop a plant protein beverage with a coordinated export feel and a stable tissue, it is particularly important to make full use of reasonable emulsion stabilizers.

Many studies have shown that the use of composite stabilizers can improve the stability of beverages.

3. Application in milk beverages

Milk beverage refers to the addition of other functional auxiliary materials on the basis of fresh milk (more than 30% milk), such as juice, coffee, cocoa, sucrose and other substances that increase the taste and rich nutrition, and are effective by mixing with a certain proportion of water. After sterilization, milk-containing beverages with various corresponding flavors are formed.
Milk beverages are often prepared into acid-flavored beverages. This is because milk proteins are easier to aggregate and precipitate under acidic conditions. Therefore, some hydrophilic acid-resistant stabilizers are often used in production to increase viscosity, such as CMC, xanthan gum, PGA, fruit glue. The acidic milk beverage can compensate for the anionic charge of the protein. Due to the electrostatic repulsion, the unstable protein nearby can be redispersed to prevent the occurrence of protein aggregation, thereby preventing precipitation and making the product more stable.

In the industry, in addition to improving the stability of yogurt beverages through relevant controls on raw milk, water quality, and process flow, the most critical way to improve the stability of yogurt beverages is to add stabilizers appropriately and use composite stabilizers to increase product Stability, in order to make full use of the synergistic interaction between various stabilizer monomers to reduce the amount of stabilizer and reduce production costs.
Pectin, CMC (Carboxymethyl Cellulose), PGA (Propylene Glycol Alginate) three stabilizers are compounded, and the optimal addition amount is 0.056%, 0.050%, 0.055%, and the total addition amount is 0.161%. The stability of yogurt beverages has been significantly improved.