Scientific & Technical News

Enzymes for Making New Drinks: The Right Enzyme at the Right Time

23 September 2026 Beverage Development

A new drink starts with a raw material and an idea: creamy oats for coffee, a light rice drink, a protein-rich pulse blend or a bright fruit beverage. Turning that idea into a consistent product means controlling what happens to starch, protein and plant cell walls. Enzymes give developers a way to make those changes selectively.

Scientific & Technical has introduced a set of oat-milk technical guides covering alpha-amylase, beta-amylase, glucoamylase and protein glutaminase. Together, they illustrate a broader approach to beverage development: match the enzyme to the feedstock, introduce it at the right stage, and stop the reaction at the required endpoint.

Start with the feedstock

Two drinks can look similar in a glass yet need different processing. A starch-rich cereal slurry, a protein-rich pulse base and a pectin-rich fruit mash present different targets. Blends add another layer: changing a cereal-to-pulse ratio changes the amount of starch and protein that each enzyme encounters.

Oats, rice and other cereals

Oats and rice are useful starting points for cereal drinks, while barley and sorghum offer further development possibilities. Cooking can make starch accessible but also produce a viscous mash. Alpha-amylase is a candidate for controlled liquefaction. After that, beta-amylase can produce maltose, while glucoamylase produces glucose. Which route is useful depends on the intended sugar profile and mouthfeel.

For oats, retaining the required body matters as much as making the base easy to pump. If beta-glucan characteristics are part of the specification, check side activities and measure the relevant fibre properties. A larger enzyme dose is not automatically an improvement.

Peas, soy and other pulses

With protein-rich materials, solubility and protein behaviour may be more important than starch conversion. Protein glutaminase modifies protein-bound glutamine through deamidation and is a candidate for improving protein functionality. Its performance depends on the protein source and prior processing, so test the actual ingredient rather than transferring results from another pulse or isolate.

A cereal–pulse blend may therefore need two separate development steps: starch management for the cereal fraction, followed by a protein-functionality trial. Assess the final heat-treated drink, particularly when adding oil or calcium.

Almonds, nuts and coconut

Nut and coconut drinks call for careful attention to extraction, particle size and emulsion design. They should not automatically receive an oat-style amylase treatment: first establish whether starch is a meaningful target. Protein glutaminase can be investigated where accessible protein is relevant; cell-wall enzymes such as cellulase are candidates only where the substrate and extraction bottleneck justify them. These are screening choices, not a universal nut-drink recipe.

Fruit and coffee-based drinks

In fruit processing, pectinase can be investigated for pectin breakdown during extraction or clarification. The desired style matters: extensive treatment may be inappropriate where a cloudy appearance or fuller body is intentional.

Coffee introduces a different cell-wall target. Mannanase is used in specialised soluble-coffee processing to act on galactomannans. A commercial enzyme must still suit the actual coffee process: Scientific & Technical's listed mannanase pH range is 6.0–10.5, so compatibility with an acidic coffee extract must be established before use. Performance from another supplier's preparation should not be assumed.

The right enzyme at the right time

Prepare the substrate. Hydrate, mill, cook or disperse as needed so the enzyme can reach its target.
Match the stage to the enzyme grade. A medium-temperature alpha-amylase added before a hot cooking step may lose activity; a heat-stable grade still needs validation under the actual conditions.
Choose the sugar route. Use beta-amylase when maltose production is wanted, or glucoamylase for glucose. Glucoamylase can further hydrolyse maltose, so adding both is a deliberate formulation choice.
Give protein treatment its own suitable conditions. Adjust temperature and pH before protein glutaminase rather than assuming the previous stage is compatible.
Measure and stop. Define an endpoint using viscosity, sugar profile, protein behaviour or extraction performance, then validate enzyme inactivation and the final preservation process.

What could you develop?

Development concepts include an oat base designed for steaming, a maltose-led cereal drink, a cereal–pulse protein blend, a fruit-and-grain drink made from separately treated streams, or an oat–coffee beverage. These are formulation ideas to test, not claims of proven performance. Blending after each stream has been treated can make it easier to optimise different substrates without forcing every enzyme into one temperature and pH window.

From a promising trial to a repeatable drink

Start with an untreated control and a small dose-response series. Keep raw-material concentration, mixing and thermal history constant. Measure the outcomes that matter to the customer: flavour, sweetness, body, separation and, where appropriate, steaming and coffee compatibility. Confirm those outcomes after final formulation and heat treatment.

Record dose on a defined basis such as dry oats, starch or protein, together with the enzyme activity and assay. Enzyme units from different preparations are not automatically interchangeable. Shelf life, heat stability and nutrition claims need finished-product evidence.