Effects of Microcrystalline Cellulose Concentration in Complex Colloidal System on Stability of Chestnut Suspension

Chestnut is often used in cloudy beverage for its good nutritional value and health care function. Due to abundant starch in chestnut, the chestnut beverage is easy to precipitate or stratify. Therefore, in this study, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and agar were composited to improve the stability of the chestnut suspension. The determination of particle size, viscosity, rheology and Turbiscan were carried out to evaluate the effect of MCC concentration on the stability of chestnut suspension. The results showed that the chestnut suspension was relatively stable with smaller particle size and higher potential value when MCC concentration was 2.4 g/L and agar concentration was 0.4 g/L, but little change in particle size occurred during thermal acceleration process. When MCC concentration was 2.4 and 2.8 g/L, the chestnut suspension had higher viscosity, and could provide better suspension stability for suspended particles in the system. The rheological result showed that when the concentration of MCC was 2.4 g/L, a relatively stable network structure could be formed in the system, resulting in the stronger damage resistance. The Turbiscan analysis showed that the TSI value of the system was relatively small, leading to stable within a short time when MCC concentration was 2.4 and 2.8 g/L.