A Study on the Gelation Properties and Rheological Behavior of Gellan Gum

Abstract

The effects of gellan gum and calcium ions concentration on gelation characteristics and rheological behavior were investigated using TA(texture analysis)and mechanical rheometer which monitored respectively press strength and the evolution of G′. At a premium gellan gum content of 0.02g in 100ml buffer solution, increasing calcium ions concentration led to an increase in the gelation strength, but when calcium ions content reached a critical concentration values range from 0.015% to 0.02%, gelation strength begin to decrease. While in the same content of calcium ions, calcium lactate exhibits grater effects on gelation strength than calcium chloride. The temperature at the onset of gelation and the gelation rates showed an increase with the increasing of gellen and calcium ions content. At the same calcium ions concentration, the evolution of modulus storage (G′), gel temperature and rate are higher with the addition of calcium lactate than using calcium chloride. Our study indicated exponential relationship between gelling temperature (gelling rate) and calcium concentration.