Types Of Beverages

Food Beverages

Definition of Beverage

Beverages are an integral part of human diet, starting from new born. The cycle starts with the infant formulas- highly complex drink, rich in many key nutrients. As human age and their nutritional requirements change, product designer keeps pace by developing new and innovative beverages to meet these needs. 

Beverages can be defined as “any fluid which is consumed by drinking”. It consists of diverse group of food products, usually liquids that include the most essential drink “water” to wide range of commercially available fluids like fruit beverage, synthetic drinks, alcoholic beverage, milk, dairy beverages, tea, coffee, chocolate drinks etc. Despite differences in their properties one common feature that exists in all beverages is their ability to act as thirst quencher. In simple words beverages can be defined as “liquid which is essentially designed or developed for human consumption”. The beverages are rarely consumed for its food value but it is vital for life. Although their prime role is to fulfill the human need but these are part of our culture. However there are important pre-requisite for beverages:- 

• All are made from food ingredients 
• All are subject to pure food law 
• Consumed in enormous quantities – sometimes safer than potable supply 

Health Importance of Beverages 

Beverages are essential for growth, development as well for carrying out various physiological processes that are critical for living a healthy life.

• In adult individuals 70 percent of body weight, 73 percent of lean muscle, 25 percent of adipose tissues, 22 percent of bone and 80 percent of blood consists of water. Consumption of beverages help in maintaining the water content in body and prevent dehydration 
• The water assists in digestion, assimilation and excretion of foods. It also helps in removing the toxic substances produced in body as a result of metabolisms such as urea, uric acid, ammonia etc. through kidney. 
• Water in beverages help in regulating the temperature of body through the process of sweating. 
• Beverages specially the fruit and vegetable based ones are source of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and anti-oxidants (carotenoids, flavonoids). 
• Certain beverages like tea and coffee contain alkaloids which stimulate the central nervous system. 
• Consumption of alcoholic beverages specialy wine is recommended for its heart healthy image due to the presence of flavonoids. 
• Fermented dairy beverages are consumed because of the beneficial microflora present in them which assist in restoration and improvement of gastro-intestinal health. 

Classification of Beverages 

Beverages may be classified on various ways. The classification criteria may depends on various factors as mentioned below: 

• Natural and Synthetic (Ingredients used in manufacture) 
• Carbonated and Non-carbonated (Degree of mechanical carbonation) 
• Alcoholic and Non-alcoholic (presence or absence of alcohol) 
• Hot and Cold (Temperature of serving) 
• Stimulating and Non-stimulating (Based on physiological effect)  

Natural and synthetic beverages 

The natural beverages are prepared from the naturally derived ingredients including fruit juices or milk or malt, sugar, acid, flavouring and colouring materials. The examples of this group are fruit based beverages, malt beverages and dairy beverages. 

Synthetic beverages are analogue of natural beverages and may contain ingredients which are prepared synthetically like flavouring and colouring materials. These are primarily developed to offer pleasure to consumers at affordable cost. The major group of synthetic beverages is soft drinks which contain flavoured sugar syrup as base material that may or may not be carbonated. The high potency sweetener based beverages also belong to the category of synthetic beverages as they contain artificial sweeteners mainly to reduce the calorific value. 

Carbonated and non-carbonated beverages Carbonated beverages are the one where carbon dioxide is dissolved in syrup or water. The presence of carbon dioxide creates bubbles upon release of pressure and fizzing in the beverage. The carbonated beverages are commonly referred as “Soft Drink”. Cola or lemonade beverages are typical examples of carbonated beverages. The process of fermentation also produces carbon dioxide in certain beverages like beer. Carbonation is done for various reasons. Consumers find the fizzy sensation pleasant, and like the slightly different taste that dissolved carbonic acid provides. Soda water is another popular type of carbonated beverage which may also be flavoured. Majority of fruit and dairy based beverages falls into the category of non-carbonated beverages. The category also includes hot beverages and alcoholic beverages that do not contain carbon dioxide.

Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages 

Alcoholic beverages contain ethyl alcohol which can be consumed for its intoxicating and mind-altering effects. Alcoholic beverages are produced by the process of natural or controlled fermentation. On the basis of raw material used and process technology used in their manufacture alcoholic beverages may be classified into three major groups:  

a) Beer It is the world‟s third most consumed beverage. Beer is prepared by fermenting the “wort” (soluble liquid of barley malt digest) with appropriate yeast to attain an alcohol level in the range of 4-8 percent. Apart from alcohol, beer is also characterized by the “effervescence” i.e. foam which is produced by carbon dioxide and bitterness. The bitterness and aroma in beer is contributed by the hops (Humulus lupulus) solids as αiso-acids and other polyphenols. There are many variants of beer but two are more popular. These are called as “Lager” beer which is fermented by bottom yeast i.e. Saccharomyces pastorianus at lower temperature (7-12 OC) for longer period, while the “Ale” is manufactured by using top fermenting yeast i.e. Saccharomyces cerevisiae at relatively higher temperature (18-250C)

b) Wine Wines are made from variety of fruits. Such as grapes, peach, plum or apricots. However, the most commonly used one is grapes, both green as well as red grapes. The grapes are macerated to release juice which is fermented naturally by wide range of yeasts including Saccharomyces spp., Pichia spp., Stellata spp. and certain lactic acid bacteria. The duration of fermentation is also longer as compared to beer and mostly fermented wine is aged (months to year) to develop desirable sensory characteristics (Figure 24.1). There are two major type of wines i.e. white wine (made from green grapes) and red wine (from red or blue grapes). The red wine contain anthocyanin (as colouring pigment) and subjected to secondary fermentation termed as “Malolactic fermentation” to mellow the flavour of wine. The alcohol content in wine ranges from 9-16% (v/v). Sparkling wines are characterized by “effervescence” produced by carbon dioxide and clarity, example: Champagne. 

c) Spirit Spirit is a class of alcoholic beverages which are unsweetened and produced by distillation of fermented base. The fermented base may be molasses (by-product of sugar industry), fruit juices, cereal extract or sometime a combination of many fermentable substrates. Spirits are characterized by relatively higher alcohol content which may be as high as 20 percent. The process of distillation increases the concentration of alcohol but reduced the level of congeners.

Hot and cold beverages 

Another criterion for classifying beverages is the temperature of serving. Certain beverages are consumed only hot i.e. temperature above 65-700 C which are termed as “Hot beverage” while those served at chilled temperature are called as “cold beverages”. The examples of hot beverages are tea, coffee, chocolate and milk. However, iced tea and cold coffee are served chilled. Most of the fruit beverages, dairy drinks, alcoholic drinks and soft drinks are example of cold drinks. Term “cold drink” is synonymous to “carbonated drinks” as well. 

Stimulating and non-stimulating beverages 

Consumption of some beverage stimulates the body systems mainly to nervous system and circulatory system. It is mainly due to the presence of certain chemical compounds like caffeine in coffee and tea, many phenolic compounds in herbal drinks and ethyl alcohol in alcoholic beverages. The chemical constituents present in these beverages influence the physiological processes as follows:-

• Increase in basic metabolic rate (BMR) 
• Increase in blood circulation and heart beat 
• Stimulation of central nervous system (CNS) and release of neuro transmitter 
• Diuretic (increase in frequency of urination) 
• Enhancement in secretion of gastric juice 

Other beverages 

There are many other categories of beverages and it includes nomenclature like herbal drinks, mood drinks, energy drinks and sports drinks.

 Energy drinks are those beverages which boost energy and mainly contain sugar and caffeine. In recent past there has been rapid growth in the demand of energy drinks. These drinks may also contain variety of stimulants and vitamins. 

Herbal drinks are prepared by using the infusion of herbs in water. A wide variety of herbs may be used in preparation of such drinks. Many herbs like aloe vera, ginseng, shatavari, Arjuna, lemongrass, thyme etc. may be used for as base material for herbal drinks. 

Sports beverages are also called as “electrolyte drinks” are basically designed to replenish the loss of fluid & electrolytes and provide quick energy during the exercise and sports activity. The mono-saccharides such as dextrose, glucose syrup are added so that they can be transported easily into the muscle cells and produce energy apart from sucrose and maltodextrin. The carbohydrate content of sports beverage varied in the range of 4-8 percent. Electrolytes are many essential minerals such as chloride, calcium, phosphate, magnesium, sodium, and potassium. Electrolytes control osmosis of water between body compartments and help maintain the acid base balance required for normal cellular activities. 

There are three types of sports drinks all of which contain various levels of fluid, electrolytes, and carbohydrate.

• Isotonic drinks have fluid, electrolytes and 6-8% carbohydrate. Isotonic drinks quickly replace fluids lost by sweating and supply a boost of carbohydrate. This kind of drink is the choice for most athletes especially middle and long distance running or team sports. 
• Hypotonic drinks have fluids, electrolytes and a low level of carbohydrates. Hypotonic drinks quickly replace flids lost by sweating. This kind of drink is suitable for athletes who need fluid without the boost of carbohydrates such as gymnasts. 
• Hypertonic drinks have high levels of carbohydrates. Hypertonic drinks can be used to supplement daily carbohydrate intake normally after exercise to top up muscle glycogen stores. In long distance events high levels of energy are required and hypertonic drinks can be taken during exercise to meet the energy requirements. If used during exercise, hypertonic drinks need to be used in conjunction with isotonic drinks to replace fluids.