Protein and polyphenol structure transformation persuade "colloid-suspension" phase conversion in green tea beverages.

Despite the rapid expansion of the pure tea beverage market ($35 billion by 2025), shelf-life sedimentation remains a major challenge as 80% of raw materials fail conventional stabilization techniques (e.g., membrane filtration), attributable to unclear colloidal stability mechanism regarding the tea infusion components and processing-induced evolution. In our work, 17 typical green tea were analyzed to identify protein and polyphenol as the key stability predictors, and a rapid screening method was developed and validated. Characterization revealed that sterilization drives divergent fates, with stable samples reinforcing β-sheet and hydration networks, whereas sediment-prone samples undergo random coil expansion and polyphenol cross-linking. While EGCG accelerates initial sedimentation, EC modulates the final sediment volume in actual tea systems. Moving beyond processing intervention in tea beverages, this work focuses on "colloid-suspension" phase conversion mediated by the tea infusion components, providing a data foundation as well as targeted processing of raw materials for sediment-free tea beverages.