Beverages are prone to undesirable phenomena such as precipitation and suspension during storage, which not only affect the perception, but also affect the flavor and quality of the beverage, and stabilizers solve this problem and become an indispensable and important additive in the beverage industry.

The use of a certain stabilizer alone, the effect is not as good as the compound use, generally after experimental exploration, to find the best addition amount and compound ratio to ensure the quality and flavor of the beverage. In addition, it is necessary to try to choose non-hazardous natural products as stabilizers, and the influence of other additives in beverages on stabilizers cannot be ignored.

The preparation process of the beverage is different, and the choice of stabilizer is also different. Most of the stabilizers applied to beverages have undergone multi-step experimental exploration, the preparation process is strict, and the product has both color, aroma and taste to meet the standard.

Stabilizers are a key factor in ensuring the stability of beverages, but they are also affected by factors such as temperature, pH, pressure, the ratio of various stabilizers and the type of beverage. Whether the selection of beverage stabilizer is reasonable is directly reflected in the stability of the beverage, and the appropriate stabilizer addition conditions can give the beverage good stability. Compound stabilizers generally work better than single stabilizers, and the stabilizers used in different types of beverages are not the same.

The stability of fruit and vegetable drinks is generally higher than that of plant protein and milk drinks, mainly based on the influence of the drink's own composition. Plant protein drinks are easy to precipitate in layers, and the stability of milk drinks is sensitive to external conditions. If the homogenization pressure in the beverage preparation process is too small, it will not be possible to completely mix the stabilizer and the beverage body, which will affect the effect of the stabilizer; Too high a temperature can destroy the nutrients in the beverage, so these factors should be fully considered when adding stabilizers.

The selection of stabilizers in beverages is a complex process, and stabilizers should be selected and compounded according to the quality of beverages. There are various forms of compounding, including similar products, similar products, and different functions. Some fruit juice drinks need to be sterilized at high temperature during processing, so it is necessary to choose a stabilizer with good thermal stability, but also to consider the influence of pH and other factors on the stabilizer, and more importantly, it cannot affect the nutritional value of the beverage.

The raw materials of beverages are mostly fruits and vegetables and emulsions, containing a certain proportion of pulp particles, pectin, suspension and emulsion, and the density difference between them and beverage juices is large. In addition, the protein contained in the beverage is easy to denature under the influence of external factors, so that the beverage will be stratified, precipitated, suspended and other phenomena. Stabilizers can prevent the appearance of these phenomena and improve the sensory effect and comprehensive properties of the beverage.

Beverage stabilizers consist of two parts, a thickener and an emulsifier. The thickener can increase the concentration of the beverage, so that it has enough buoyancy to ensure the uniform suspension of the particles; The emulsifier can improve the hydrophilicity of lipids in beverages, make beverage juice miscible with lipids, and stably disperse; Its compound can be used synergistically, which has the effect of improving flavor and improving quality.

Fruit and vegetable drinks are fruit as raw materials, through physical methods to obtain juice products, after natural settlement or physical action is prone to stratification phenomenon, seriously affect the overall quality of the beverage, commonly used stabilizers include pectin, agar, sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), xanthan gum, sodium alginate, etc.

Stabilizer is used in pulp beverages, as long as the selection and optimal formula of stabilizers in the processing process of pulp beverages are determined, fruit pulp beverages with good export sense, good flavor, rich nutrition and stable system can be developed, effectively solving the problems of flocculation and precipitation of fruit pulp or viscous taste and poor fluidity in the process of fruit pulp production, and providing certain reference value for the development of new fruit pulp beverages.

Plant protein drinks are rich in nutrition and the market is becoming more and more extensive. In order to develop plant protein beverages with a coordinated sense of export and stable tissue, it is particularly important to fully apply reasonable emulsion stabilizers.

Milk drinks are often prepared into acidic flavored beverages, because milk proteins are easier to agglomerate and precipitate under acidic conditions, so some hydrophilic acid resistance stabilizers are often used in production to increase viscosity, such as CMC, xanthan gum, PGA, pectin.

The synergistic interaction between composite stabilizers can enhance the effect, thereby reducing the amount of stabilizer, reducing production costs, and avoiding the excessive addition of a single stabilizer to affect the flavor and taste of the beverage. Carrageenan, CMC, and guar gum have a certain degree of interaction in controlling the stability of yogurt, and the amount of single stabilizer can be significantly reduced by compounding. At the same time, the combination of a variety of stabilizers can effectively avoid the problem of weakening the taste due to the addition of too many thickeners in the process of controlling the stability of active lactic acid bacteria beverages.

Studies have shown that carrageenan has the largest viscosity and the best suspension of xanthan gum, which can be used as a thickener for translucent milk drinks; Carrageenan can be used in low-acid milk drinks, and polysaccharide compound gum is best used to thicken acid milk drinks.

With the improvement of living standards, people pay more attention to food safety issues. Although the beverage stabilizers currently used are not harmful to the human body, the development of natural stabilizers should be put on the agenda, and the mechanism of action of stabilizers should be studied in more depth. Only by fully grasping the properties and mechanism of action of stabilizers can we make full use of them and promote the development of the beverage industry.