Structural Characterization and Stability Analysis of Potential Turbid Components in Beer

Non-biological haze in beer severely impacts product stability and consumer acceptance, yet conventional control strategies targeting protein-polyphenol interactions fail to resolve sporadic batch-specific turbidity, indicating unrecognized haze-forming factors. To identify these factors, this study focused on a haze-prone beer batch and investigated its potential turbidity-causing components. Through membrane filtration, centrifugation, and purification (protease hydrolysis, ethanol precipitation), combined with compositional analysis, enzymatic hydrolysis, spectral techniques, high-performance gel filtration chromatography, and simulated beer system validation, the core haze-forming substance was identified as the limit dextrin with a molecular weight of 1-2 kDa, featuring α-glycosidic bonds as the main chains. Further mechanism analysis revealed that this dextrin does not induce turbidity independently; instead, it forms composite colloidal particles with polyphenols via hydrogen bonds or undergoes oxidative cross-linking/aggregation under free radical action to cause haze. This study uncovers a novel haze-causing factor in beer, elucidates its structural characteristics and haze-forming mechanism, and provides targeted technical references for optimizing beer production processes and improving product stability. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: This study identifies a novel haze-causing factor (the limit dextrin with a molecular weight of 1-2 kDa) and its mechanism, providing targeted guidance for optimizing beer production (e.g., polyphenol control) to improve product stability.