Influence of cations on texture, compressive elastic modulus, sol-gel transition and freeze-thaw properties of kappa-carrageenan gel

Yanli Wang; Chao Yuan; Bo Cui; Yawei Liu

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.08.146

Influence of cations on texture, compressive elastic modulus, sol-gel transition and freeze-thaw properties of kappa-carrageenan gel

Carbohydr Polym. 2018 Dec 15:202:530-535. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.08.146. Epub 2018 Sep 13.

Authors

Yanli Wang¹, Chao Yuan², Bo Cui³, Yawei Liu⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Food Science and Engineering, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan, 250353, China; School of Grain and Oil, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, 450000, China.
² School of Food Science and Engineering, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan, 250353, China; State Key Laboratory of Biobased Material and Green Papermaking, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan, 250353, China. Electronic address: wheat1997@yahoo.com.
³ School of Food Science and Engineering, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan, 250353, China; State Key Laboratory of Biobased Material and Green Papermaking, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan, 250353, China.
⁴ School of Grain and Oil, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, 450000, China.

PMID: 30287032
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.08.146

Abstract

The influences of 4 mono- and di-valent cations (K⁺, Na⁺, Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺) on the mechanical, sol-gel transition and freeze-thaw properties of κ-carrageenan gel were investigated. Texture profile analysis results demonstrated that the texture behavior of gelatinized κ-carrageenan was obviously influenced by the cation types and concentrations and the influence of K⁺ was the greatest. The gelling temperature (T_g) of κ-carrageenan gel showed a positive correlation with cation concentrations and the influence of K⁺ was still the largest. However, the viscosities of κ-carrageenan gels evoked by divalent cations were higher than monovalent cations. Furthermore, cations reduced freeze-thaw stability of κ-carrageenan gels and followed the same influence tendency as viscosities. It was proposed that divalent cations form direct crosslinking between κ-carrageenan helices while monovalent cations only bind single sulphate groups on κ-carrageenan molecules. There were more junction zones in divalent cations invoked gels. Furthermore, K⁺ and Ca²⁺ cations showed apparent synergistic effect in the research.

Keywords: Cations; Gel network; Rheology; Synthesis; Texture profile analysis; κ-Carrageenan.