Abstract
In this study the heat induced synergistic gelation of different hydrocolloid solutions, xanthan gum types (XG) in mixture with galactomannans like guar gum (GG), locust bean gum (LBG) and konjac glucomannan (KGM) is investigated. The physical mechanism of the synergy in thickening and gelling of blends depends on the monomer structure, the molecular weight, the charge, the polarity, and the chain stiffness of the hydrocolloids. Particularly the properties of the electrically neutral galacto- and glucomannans mixed in combination with xanthan gum strongly affect the synergistic effects. These are influenced by the number and distribution of mannan side chains and thus their flexibility. While the pure components do not show gelation on their own, they form viscoelastic solutions or even gels when mixed together and heated. In this study, rheological properties of the resulting composite gels of 0.5% (w/w) were examined under different physicochemical and thermal conditions. Focus was laid on thermally induced gels, as these gels showed higher synergistic effects compared to the non-heated ones. The gelation mechanisms were investigated by strain and temperature dependent oscillatory rheological measurements. Blends with XG-GG (20:80) showed the weakest synergism, followed by XG-LBG blends (20:80), whereas XG-KGM (60:40) blends showed the highest increase of the storage modulus. This can be explained by different local interactions in combinations with the flexibility of the various components. Furthermore, the impact of monovalent salt on the interactions was investigated. Addition of sodium chloride at 0.05% and 0.5% (w/w) concentrations influenced the gelling due to Coulomb screening of the negative charges of XG. Consequently, the synergism, in particular the storage modulus, is strongly affected by variation in salt concentration. We propose specific models based on the gel formation in case of XG-LBG and XG-KGM blends, whereas XG-GG shows an entropic phase separation due to flexibility of GG.
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