TECHNICAL ARTICLE

How to control stability in

plant-based beverages
The market for non-dairy alternative drinks is evolving quickly, bringing with it
plenty of challenges and learning curves for manufacturers trying to match the
performance of dairy with authentic, stable products. Emulsifiers and stabilisers
can help overcome stability issues and create vegan products with a mouthfeel
and texture consumers will love – Here’s how.
By Hanne K. Ludvigsen, Global Project Manager, Palsgaard A/S,
& Giselle Baez, Regional Application manager, Palsgaard Ind. de Mexico

Market drivers In search of stability

Alternatives to milk such as soy, almond and rice drinks, have
gained in popularity in recent years. These vegan options can
achieve similar mouthfeel and texture to traditional dairy prod-
ucts but, for example, with fewer calories and lower fat content.
But working with such products is far from simple, with formula-
tion and production challenges that are, in some cases, entirely
new.
In this article, we’ve chosen to focus on how manufacturers can
solve key formulation and production challenges around soy, rice
and almond drinks – the three most popular plant-based bever-
ages on the market today.
Products of this kind are typically composed of 0.5 to 3% pro-
tein, 0.5 - 3% fat, carbohydrates and fibres. The exact balance of
such ingredients will depend in the specific nutritional profile the
manufacturer aims to achieve.
Perhaps the most prominent challenge for those trying to
produce good quality non-dairy beverages is product stabilisa-
tion. Due to the types of fat (with low saturation to deliver on
nutritional claims) often used in such drinks, the emulsion is, by
nature, very sensitive, with sedimentation, flocculation and fat
“If you’re experiencing stability problems with
your vegan drinks, the first thing to do is to
check the formulation balance to ensure your
recipe doesn’t exceed the expected range for each
ingredient type. Next, take a deeper look at the
raw materials and your production process,
preferably together with emulsifier and stabilis-
er experts on hand to help you set up and make
sense of testing.”

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separation as constant issues. One only has to think about what
it’s like to open a can of coconut milk, for example, to realise that
the ingredient’s rapid change from liquid to solid curd is likely to
show up as creaming on the surface of a non-dairy alternative
drink.
The source for dry matter in vegan drinks made from vegeta-
ble origin, such as rice and soy, usually contains high amounts
of fibre or starch, i.e. some insoluble particles that need to be
suspended during storage for the desired shelf-life of the final
product. And, while the same goes for almond flour, there’s an
additional challenge since almond paste is highly sensitive to
heat, carrying an ever-present threat of flocculation following
UHT treatment, with phase separation as a result.
It’s a multi-faceted, multi-ingredient landscape that can chal-
lenge even the best emulsion experts. Working with rice, for
Figure 2: Almond drink without Palsgaard® RecMilk 131 (left), almond drink with
example, starch is the key issue; In soy drinks it’s protein; and in 0.2% Palsgaard® RecMilk 131 (right).
almond-based drinks the focus tends to be on flocculation. And
the level of difficulty may well depend, too, on the form the var-
ious ingredients take – does the recipe call for paste or powder, Almond drink, UHT treated
or a liquid base? Do you want to work with a liquid soy base or
RECIPE: Palsgaard® RecMilk 131 0.20%
solid proteins? Sugar 2.00%
Almond concentrate 3.50%
Salt 0.10%
Water 94.20%
Advanced control
The unsaturated fat in the vegetable drinks demands strong PROCEDURE: Add salt into the water
Add the almond concentrate
emulsification ingredients, especially when long shelf-life prod- Add sugar and Palsgaard® RecMilk 131
ucts are produced. The introduction of the UHT technology has Heat to 65 - 70ºC
been incremental in achieving shelf-life of up to a year, depend- Homogenisation 150/50 bar
ing on the composition of the product. UHT treatment: 138ºC / 7 seconds
Cool to below 25ºC and fill aseptically
To address formulation and production challenges and exercise
an appropriate degree of control over particle suspension and Table 1: Recipe suggestion for the almond drink used to achieve results
fat stability properties, a careful mix of emulsifiers and stabilisers displayed in figure 2.
is recommended: Whichever UHT system is used, the application
of emulsifiers and stabilisers in soy, rice and almond drinks is nec-
Stabilisers are water-soluble polysaccharides extracted from land
essary for ensuring optimal emulsion stability. Mono- and diglyc-
or marine plants or from micro-organisms. Adding stabilisers
erides of fatty acids, made from edible vegetable fats and oils are
helps create the network required to suspend particles, increase
commonly used as emulsifiers in non-dairy alternative beverages.
viscosity, and improve mouthfeel. They are used for thickening
An emulsifier molecule has a hydrophilic and a lipophilic part and
and stabilising properties. There are, however, many types of sta-
will consequently locate itself at the interface between the fat
bilisers available, each suited for different jobs, which means that
globules and the water phase. This happens during homogenisa-
picking the right combination requires specific know-how of the
tion of the drink. Emulsifier molecules also stabilise the emulsion,
individual stabilisers and its synergistic effects with emulsifiers.
thereby reducing the fat separation in the product and improve
the creaminess of the drink. For almond, or rice drinks, for example, Palsgaard has developed
Palsgaard® RecMilk 131, an emulsifier/stabiliser system that has
Figure 1: An emulsifier is a molecule with ambiphilic properties (part of the
structure is hydrophilic and other moieties are lipophilic). In a multiphase system shown consistently good results with high emulsion stability
the emulsifier will adopt a favourable position with respect to energy. The emulsi- within a range of 0.18 to 0.20%.
fier reduces surface tension between the phases.
Palsgaard® RecMilk 131 comprises a combination of mono- and
diglycerides, and stabilisers – each performing a specific task in
the final product. It’s a composition designed to suspend heavy
particles and resist product changes in the face of elevated pro-
cessing temperatures, provide a pleasant and creamy consisten-
E
E
E

E
cy and at the same time reduce separation during storage.
E

Figure 2 shows the results of recent tests run on a typical UHT

almond drink without stabilising additives and one with 0.2 per-
Addition of emulsifier (E) to the
liquid/liquid interface: cent Palsgaard® RecMilk 131 added (See the recipe in Table 1). A
Reduces interfacial tension snapshot taken one month after production shows clearly visible
Stabilizes emulsion
curdling in the glass on the left. The glass on the right, however,
containing the Palsgaard emulsifier system, displays no such
curdling.

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Interestingly, in beverages based on rice flour, the gelling effect
and increase in viscosity typically caused by starch has not been
observed when Palsgaard® RecMilk 131 is used, as displayed in Fig-
ure 3, suggesting this advanced emulsifier/stabiliser system may
have an even wider range of applications in the dairy alternatives
marketplace.
Another ingredient that is proving itself highly useful in non-dairy
alternative drinks is Palsgaard® ChoMilk 173, used in a range of
formulations varying in processing conditions. Composed of
mono- and diglycerides and stabilisers it can support the stability
of cocoa powder or added calcium in soy-based products, too.
See Table 3 for a recipe suggestion for a soy chocolate drink
made with Palsgaard® ChoMilk 173.
In line with many of Palsgaard’s other emulsifier and stabiliser
products, both Palsgaard® RecMilk and Palsgaard® ChoMilk are
Figure 3: Rice drink without Palsgaard® RecMilk 131 (left), rice drink with 0.2%
produced in CO2-neutral factories – and their palm oil compo- Palsgaard® RecMilk 131 (right)
nents comply fully with the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil
(RSPO)’s Segregated (SG) supply chain requirements.
Almond drink, UHT treated

RECIPE: Palsgaard® RecMilk 131 0.20%

Making things better Sugar 2.00%
Almond concentrate 3.50%
If you’re experiencing stability problems with your vegan drinks,
Salt 0.10%
the first thing to do is to check the formulation balance to Water 94.20%
ensure your recipe doesn’t exceed the expected range for each
ingredient type. Next, take a deeper look at the raw materials and PROCEDURE: Add salt into the water
your production process, preferably together with emulsifier and Add the almond concentrate
stabiliser experts on hand to help you set up and make sense of Add sugar and Palsgaard® RecMilk 131
Heat to 65 - 70ºC
testing.
Homogenisation 150/50 bar
With vegetable-based drinks (particularly cereals such as rice UHT treatment: 138ºC / 7 seconds
Cool to below 25ºC and fill aseptically
and oats) you may, for example, need to pay extra attention to
upstream and downstream homogenisation, countering the ef-
Table 2: Recipe suggestion for the rice drink used to achieve results displayed in
fects of their starch content. For drinks produced using protein Figure 3.
isolates, a holistic view on the product is recommended as i.e.
protein salts and emulsifiers in interactions gives the right, stable
emulsion. Soy chocolate drink, UHT treated

RECIPE: Palsgaard® ChoMilk 173 0.20%

Help is near Soy base
(5.6% protein. 2.8% fat) 53.60%
In most situations, the best and most reliable path to solving Sugar 6.00%
problems with existing recipes or developing new ones is to Cocoa powder (10 - 12% fat) 0.80%
join forces with specialists in emulsifiers and stabilisers. And, as Water 39.40%
the inventor of the modern commercial emulsifier, Palsgaard is
COMPOSITION OF
ideally positioned to help. We’ve been supplying both dairy and SOLIDS: Fat 1.60%
non-dairy producers with high-quality emulsifier systems for Protein 3.00%
decades. At well-equipped application centers around the world, Sugar 6.00%
teams of application specialists work alongside you to determine Palsgaard® ChoMilk 173 0.20%
Total solid, approx.: 13.50%
the optimal mix of raw materials, recipe and process to achieve a
stable product with the right sensory qualities. And we have the PROCEDURE: Mix soy base and water at about 45-50ºC
equipment needed to work with pasteurized, UHT-treated and while stirring
sterilised products, making shelf-life studies covering the entire Add in sugar and Palsgaard® ChoMilk 173
shelf- life of the beverage. Add in cocoa powder
Heat to 70 - 75ºC for complete dissolution
For more information on Palsgaard’s emulsifier/stabiliser solu- Aseptic homogenisation 200/50 bar at 75ºC
UHT treatment: 140ºC / 4 seconds
tions for plant-based, vegan drinks and how they can help create
Cool to below 25ºC and fill aseptically
stable emulsions, improve texture and deliver creaminess and
mouthfeel, please visit: www.palsgaard.com/vegan-drinks
Table 3: Recipe suggestion for a soy chocolate drink.
Or, send an email to contact@palsgaard.com

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