Abstract:There are problems in acidified milk beverage including protein precipitation and whey isolation, and polysaccharides such as pectin are often used as stabilizers. Soluble soybean polysaccharide(SSPS) has low viscosity, good solubility and refreshing taste, however, its stabilization mechanism of acidified milk beverage is still unclear. Acidified milk beverage processed by formulation and fermentation with skim milk was studied, and the differences of mechanism between SSPS and pectin stabilizing three kinds of acidified milk proteins (skim milk, casein and whey protein) were investigated by the LUMiSizer instability index, the complex content quantified by SEC-HPLC, the particle size, ζ potential and the 14-day cold storage stability. The results showed that for three acidified milk proteins processed by formulation, 2 g/L SSPS could not form effective complex with casein and stabilize acidified casein, and 2 g/L pectin could not form complex with 3 kinds of acidified milk proteins and failed to stabilize these milk proteins. SSPS and pectin under other mass concentrations could form complexes with three acidified milk proteins of 10 g/L, and showed good stability during 14-day cold storage. The fermented acidified skimmed milk could only be effectively stabilized by 6 g/L pectin. The stability tests of whey protein and casein could not predict the stability of fermented acidified skim milk beverage. The results of average particle size showed that the particle size of formulated acidified milk beverage was far smaller than that of the fermented acidified milk. The increasing of SSPS could not effectively reduce the average particle size of fermented skim milk. However, for three kinds of formulated acidified milk proteins and fermented acid whey protein or casein, the average particle size decreased significantly with the increasing of SSPS. The ability of pectin to reduce the particle size of acidified milk proteins was not as good as that of SSPS. These results indicated that the particle size of acidified milk protein was one of the factors affecting the formation of polysaccharide complex. Besides, the viscosity of milk beverage might also be an important factor affecting the stability of milk beverage if the complexes effectively formed. The long-term storage stability could not be characterized by centrifugation stability. For formulated acidified milk proteins, the complex amount and average particle size might be more important for predicting the long-term storage stability, while for fermented acidified milk proteins, the average particle size and viscosity might be more useful.