Application of Enzymes in the Production of RTD Black Tea Beverages: A Review

Ready-to-drink (RTD) tea is a popular beverage in many countries. Instability due to development of haze and formation of tea cream is the common problem faced in the production of RTD black tea beverages. Thus decreaming is an important step in the process to meet the cold stability requirements of the product. Enzymatic decreaming approaches overcome some of the disadvantages associated with other conventional decreaming methods such as cold water extraction, chill decreaming, chemical stabilization, and chemical solubilization. Enzyme treatments have been attempted at three stages of black tea processing, namely, enzymatic treatment to green tea and conversion to black tea, enzymatic treatment to black tea followed by extraction, and enzymatic clarification of extract. Tannase is the most commonly employed enzyme (tannin acyl hydrolase EC 3.1.1.20) aiming at improving cold water extractability/solubility and decreasing tea cream formation as well as improving the clarity. The major enzymatic methods proposed for processing black tea having a direct or indirect bearing on RTD tea production, have been discussed along with their relative advantages and limitations.