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Ciders and cider-chain beverages can sometimes experience non-yeast clouding during storage, despite being clarified before bottling. Even though it generally has no effect whatsoever on product taste and drinkability,  the sheer presence of a physico-chemical haze, and especially precipitates, often turns consumers and retailers away. The composition of the haze particles was finely analyzed (polyphenols, polysaccharides, proteins, metals and minerals) and the mechanisms of interactions responsible for the appearance of these disorders were studied in model solutions (beer, pommeau and apple juice). We were thus able to evidence two different aggregation mechanisms: in beer, haze is caused by protein-polyphenol interactions, whereas in pommeau (an aperitif made from mixing apple juice and cider brandy), haze is visibly the work of  polyphenols. However, when apple juice, and especially polyphenol-poor juices,  go cloudy, it is proteins that drive the process. These results will make it possible to tailor appropriate preventive measures to eliminate haze episodes and enable cider-chain beverages to keep their clarity for longer without adding stabilizers,  and particularly pommeau thanks to a cold microfiltration process.

Publications

Millet, M., P. Poupard, S. Guilois-Dubois, D. Zanchi, and S. Guyot, Self-aggregation of oxidized procyanidins contribute to the formation of heat-reversible haze in apple-based liqueur wine. Food Chemistry, 2019. 276: p. 797-805. DOI : 10.1016/j.foodchem.2018.09.171

Millet, M., P. Poupard, J.M. Le Quere, R. Bauduin, and S. Guyot, Haze in Apple-Based Beverages: Detailed Polyphenol, Polysaccharide, Protein, and Mineral Compositions. J. Agric. Food Chem., 2017. 65(31): p. 6404-6414. DOI : 10.1021/acs.jafc.6b05819