Polysaccharide selection and mechanism for prevention of protein–polyphenol haze formation in beverages

Abstract Polysaccharides have been considered as a group of promising candidate for preventing the protein–polyphenol haze formation in beverages. In order to select effective polysaccharides to prevent the haze formation, four protein–polyphenol haze model systems were successfully established using two proteins (i.e., gelatin and bovine serum albumin) and two polyphenols (i.e., procyanidin [PC] and epigallocatechin gallate [EGCG]). Among seven common polysaccharides, 0.5 mg/mL pectin, 0.05 mg/mL xanthan gum, and 0.01 mg/mL guar gum demonstrated the maximum potential for preventing the formation of four protein–polyphenol hazes. Ultraviolet‐visible spectrophotometry confirmed that polysaccharides affected protein–polyphenol interactions. Fluorescence spectrophotometry combined with microscale thermophoresis data indicated the relative affinities of polyphenol to protein and polysaccharide determined the mechanism of polysaccharide for preventing the haze formation. In bovine serum albumin (BSA)/gelatin‐EGCG system, polysaccharides (pectin, xanthan gum and guar gum) competed with BSA/gelatin to bind EGCG for prevention the formation of BSA/gelatin‐EGCG haze. However, in BSA/gelatin‐PC system, polysaccharides (pectin, xanthan gum, and guar gum) formed a ternary complex (protein–tannin–polysaccharide) for increasing the solubility of protein‐polyphenol aggregation. From apple juice results, the reduction rates of guar gum in two apple juice systems (gelatin‐PC, BSA‐PC) were 21% and 56% within 8 weeks, indicating guar gum might be the most effective polysaccharide in preventing the haze formation. Practical Application This experiment data could be used for development of polysaccharide products for prevention of protein–polyphenol haze formation in beverages.