Applications to Beverages Preservation

In the past decades, changes in consumer lifestyles and eating habits have prompted the beverage industry to develop more natural products. This growth trend of fresh beverages and consumers' concern about the health hazards of chemical preservation and highly processed beverages require the search for new reagents and technologies to maintain and maintain the freshness, stability and safety of beverages. As a new antibacterial agent in beverages, essential oil and its single component, bacteriocin, enzyme and chitosan, or their combination, have attracted more and more attention. At present, these non chemical antibacterial agents have been combined with other emerging biological preservation technologies or applied sequentially to preserve beverages without damaging their quality characteristics.

Preservation of Beverages

Traditional preservation techniques used in the beverage industry mainly include physical and chemical methods. However, physical methods may destroy nutrients, bioactive components and aroma components in beverages. Chemical methods may have certain safety hazards. With the development of science and technology, more and more safe and efficient biological preservation technologies have been applied to the preservation of beverages.

Fruit and Vegetable Juices

Fruit and vegetable juices are low-fat, non-alcoholic, and lactose-free nutritious beverages that are popular among consumers. However, fruit and vegetable juices are subject to microbiological, enzymatic and chemical deterioration, which shortens their shelf life. Demand for healthy fresh fruit and vegetable juices encourages the use of natural agents to protect and fortify fresh-squeezed juices. However, the use of these bioactive agents is limited by their low water solubility and poor instability. The latest research has found that nanotechnology and coating technology can be used to incorporate them into an encapsulation system composed of a variety of natural matrices to improve the stability and activity of these biologically active substances, thereby effectively improving quality and storage time of fruit and vegetable juices.

Carbonated Drinks

Carbonated beverages (soda) refer to beverages filled with carbon dioxide gas under certain conditions, and is one of the best-selling beverages in the global beverage consumption market. At present, most of the carbonated drinks on the market contain preservatives potassium sorbate or sodium benzoate. With the upgrading of consumption, people pay more and more attention to the safety of chemical preservatives, so the development and application of natural preservatives in carbonated beverages has a great market prospect. At present, commercial companies have used oak extracts to develop natural preservatives for carbonated beverage preservation, and have achieved good results.

Tea Drinks

Tea beverages, as natural and healthy beverages with health care functions, have sprung up in the beverage market in recent years and are about to occupy half of the beverage market. Because the tea polyphenols in tea drinks are easily oxidized to form other components, which affect the aroma, taste and shelf life of tea drinks. Therefore, it is usually necessary to add various additives such as antioxidants, shielding agents, and color-protecting agents in the tea beverage processing process. At present, research has found that compounding natural antioxidants, color-protecting agents and other effective ingredients can develop a multifunctional tea beverage preservative, which can not only improve the quality of tea beverages, but also increase the additional value of tea.

Alcoholic Beverages

Alcoholic beverages are produced through fermentation, usually including beer, fruit wine, etc. These alcoholic beverages contain thousands of ingredients, which interact with each other and the reaction mechanism is quite complicated. The presence of microorganisms is an important factor causing the spoilage of alcoholic beverages, followed by the movement of particulate matter causing turbidity and sedimentation. Chemical changes in the internal flavor components are also responsible for the spoilage of alcoholic beverages. A variety of biological preservation methods have been used in alcoholic beverages, such as the use of enzymes to inhibit the oxidation of free radicals to improve the stability of beer.

Aprofood is committed to developing a variety of biological preservation technologies and providing comprehensive food preservation solutions for customers around the world. If you are interested in food preservation projects, please contact us for the best solution!

References

1. Vasilaki, A., Hatzikamari, M., Stagkos-Georgiadis, A., Goula, A. M., & Mourtzinos, I. (2019). A natural approach in food preservation: Propolis extract as sorbate alternative in non-carbonated beverage. Food chemistry, 298, 125080.
2. Yupawadee G., Jonathan H., Randy W. (2023). Natural glycolipids inhibits certain yeasts and lactic acid bacteria pertinent to the spoilage of shelf stable beverages. Food Control, 146, 109544.