EFFECT OF ADDED SALT ON TEXTURAL PROPERTIES OF HEAT-INDUCED GELS MADE FROM GUM–PROTEIN MIXTURES

Large deformation rheological tests were employed to determine the textural differences in heat‐induced gel systems. Three different large deformation rheological methods (viscosity index and apparent elasticity, texture profile analysis (TPA) and torsional fracture) were employed to study the dependence of the ion type on the textural properties of heat‐induced mixed protein–gum gels. Protein–gum mixed solutions were prepared with bovine serum albumin (BSA) or egg white albumin (EWA) (20% w/v) with κ‐carrageenan (KCG), gellan (GLN) or xanthan gums (XNT) (0.5% w/v) at 0.1 M sodium chloride (NaCl), potassium chloride (KCl) or no added salt. Despite inherent differences in protein type, the main effect on the textural properties evaluated was for the kind of salt added, since potassium ions, with a strong influence on KCG and GLN gelation, affected the parameters related to the structure or hardness of the samples. There was no significant effect on parameters associated with sample ductility or elasticity. GLN formed stronger gels than KCG, whereas XNT did not perform as well in gel formation since it does not contribute to protein matrix formation. The results indicated that potassium may be substituted for sodium ions at low ionic strengths in foods where the incorporation of KCG or GLN helps to improve texture and related features.     

壳聚糖凝胶体系研究进展及其展望

概述了壳聚糖凝胶体系研究发展状况和壳聚糖凝胶体系的一些主要影响因素.并对壳聚糖凝胶体系作为新型屯食品添加剂的发展前景和可行性进行了分析.     

魔芋葡甘聚糖凝胶研究进展及其问题

魔芋葡甘聚糖是魔芋的主要功能活性成分,因其特殊的结构而具有特殊的性能,已成为多糖研究领域的热点之一.本文综述了魔芋葡甘聚糖3种特殊凝胶行为及其研究中存在的问题,并对研究方向进行展望,为KGM凝胶研究提供理论基础和科学依据.     

Phase separation in biopolymer gels: a low- to high-solid exploration of structural morphology and functionality

Phase separation in protein and polysaccharide gels remains one of the basic tools of achieving the required structural properties and textural profile in food product formulations. As ever, the industrialist is faced with the challenge of innovation in an increasingly competitive market in terms of ingredient cost, product added-value, and expectations of a healthy life-style to mention but a few. It appears, however, that a gap persists between the fundamental knowledge and a direct application to food related concepts with a growing need for scientific input. Furthermore, within the context of materials science, there is a tendency to examine research findings in either low- or high-solid systems without considering synergistic insights/benefits to contemporary needs, spanning the full range of relevant time-, length-, and concentration scales. This review highlights the latest attempts made to utilize and further develop fundamental protocols from the advanced synthetic polymer research as a source of inspiration for contemporary bio-related applications in low- and intermediate-solid composite gels. Then, it takes advantage of this school of thought to "force a passage" through the phase topology and molecular dynamics of binary biopolymer mixtures at high levels of co-solute. It is hoped that these phenomenological and fundamental tools should be able to bridge the divide in the analysis of the two "types" of composite materials (from low to high solids) thus dealing effectively with the specific and often intricate problems of their science and applications.     

Deformation and fracture of emulsion-filled gels: Effect of gelling agent concentration and oil droplet size

The effect of the ratio between the modulus of the oil droplets and that of the gel matrix (varied by changing gelling agent concentration and oil droplet size) on the large deformation properties of gelatine, κ-carrageenan and whey protein isolate (WPI) gels was studied at different compression speeds. The effect of gelling agent concentration and oil droplet size on strain-dependency of modulus and viscoelastic properties was also studied. An increase in the concentration of gelling agent resulted in denser gels with more bonds between structural elements. This induced an increase of both Young's modulus and fracture stress for all gels. With increasing gelling agent concentration, polymer gels (gelatine and κ-carrageenan) became less strain-hardening, and the particle gels (WPI) even became strain-softening. The effect of a decrease in the oil droplet size on the Young's modulus was generally according to the Van der Poel theory, unless when the oil droplets were aggregated. Moreover, a decrease in oil droplet size induced a decrease of the fracture strain in gels with non-aggregated bound droplets. The extent of these changes was shown to depend on the gelling agent concentration. The effect of a decrease of the oil droplet size on other fracture parameters and in other gel systems was minor. With decreasing oil droplet size gelatine gels with unbound droplets and WPI gels became more viscous and less elastic.     

COLD GELATION OF WHEY PROTEIN EMULSIONS

Stable and homogeneous emulsion‐filled gels were prepared by cold gelation of whey protein isolate (WPI) emulsions. A suspension of heat‐denatured WPI (soluble WPI aggregates) was mixed with a 40% (w/w) oil‐in‐water emulsion to obtain gels with varying concentrations of WPI aggregates and oil. For emulsions stabilized with native WPI, creaming was observed upon mixing of the emulsion with a suspension of WPI aggregates, likely as a result of depletion flocculation induced by the differences in size between the droplets and aggregates. For emulsions stabilized with soluble WPI aggregates, the obtained filled suspension was stable against creaming, and homogeneous emulsion‐filled gels with varying protein and oil concentrations were obtained. Large deformation properties of the emulsion‐filled cold‐set WPI gels were determined by uniaxial compression. With increasing oil concentration, the fracture stress increases slightly, whereas the fracture strain decreases slightly. Small deformation properties were determined by oscillatory rheology. The storage modulus after 16 h of acidification was taken as a measure of the gel stiffness. Experimental results were in good agreement with predictions according to van der Poel's theory for the effect of oil concentration on the stiffness of filled gels. Especially, the influence of the modulus of the matrix on the effect of the oil droplets was in good agreement with van der Poel's theory.     

魔芋葡甘聚糖不可逆凝胶研究进展及相关问题

凝胶属亚稳体系, 提高凝胶热稳定性是食品科学基础研究中的瓶颈问题。本文综述了魔芋葡甘聚糖不可逆凝胶研究进展及其研究中存在的问题, 并对研究方向进行展望, 为KGM非碱不可逆凝胶的研究提供理论基础和科学依据。     

热处理影响牛乳蛋白凝胶特性的研究进展

热处理是各种乳制品生产过程中不可或缺的工艺手段,热处理过程中乳体系的蛋白质会发生变化,影响制品的凝胶特性.介绍了牛乳酸凝胶的模型和酶凝胶的形成阶段,分析了加热过程中蛋白质可能发生的变化,简要阐述了热处理对凝乳效果的影响,指出热诱乳蛋白聚合物与凝乳的机制密切相关,旨在为乳制品加工中热处理的潜在影响提供理论参考.     

Comparative assessment of textural properties and microstructure of composite gels prepared from gelatine or gellan with maize starch and/or egg white

Single component gels (SCG) were formed from gelatine, gellan, maize starch or egg white, while binary composite gel (BCG) and ternary composite gel (TCG) were formed by mixing gelatine or gellan with maize starch and/or egg white. Each type of SCG exhibited distinct textural and microstructure characteristics. Gelatine‐SCG was the softest to hold but has the strongest and the most elastic network compared with other SCG. The effects of gelatine or gellan proportions on the textural properties of composite gels were investigated using mixture design experiments. Gelatine and gellan yielded composite gels that showed different textural behaviours and microstructure. All BCG and TCG blends showed antagonistic effects; the composite gels were softer and weaker as compared to the SCG. Gelatine‐BCG and TCG were comparatively stronger than those of gellan due to their different gelling mechanisms, in which the former had yielded a denser network structures as compared to the latter.     

Deformation and fracture of emulsion-filled gels: Effect of oil content and deformation speed

The large deformation properties of gelatine, κ-carrageenan and whey protein isolate (WPI) gels filled with bound and unbound oil droplets were studied as a function of compression speed. The rheological properties of the gel matrices controlled the compression speed-dependency of the gels containing oil droplets. Polymer gels (gelatine and κ-carrageenan gels) showed a predominantly elastic behaviour. Their Young's modulus was not affected by the compression speed. The increase of fracture stress and strain observed with increasing compression speed was related to friction between the structural elements of the gels and, for gelatine, to the unzipping of physical bonds. Particle gels (WPI gels) showed a more viscoelastic behavior. Their Young's modulus and fracture stress increased with compression speed. This was attributed to the viscous flow of the matrix and friction phenomena between structural elements of the gel. The effect of an increase in the oil volume fraction (φ) on the Young's modulus was for all gels according to the Van der Poel theory. In addition, oil droplets embedded in the gel matrix acted as stress concentration nuclei and increased friction. The relative impact of these two effects was related to the viscoelastic properties of the gels and to droplet–matrix interaction. For polymer gels and gels with bound droplets, stress concentration phenomena played a relatively larger role. For particle gels and gels with unbound droplets, friction phenomena were relatively more important, increasing the viscoelastic character of the gels. As a result, an increase in φ resulted in a decrease of both fracture stress and fracture strain for polymer gels and in an increase of the fracture stress and a decrease of fracture strain for particle gels.     

全组分木质纤维素凝胶材料的制备方法进展

木质纤维素凝胶材料在具备传统凝胶特性的同时,还具有良好的生物相容性和可降解性,在吸附、储能、传感、催化、生物医学及隔热保温等领域受到广泛关注。本文从物理交联法和化学交联法的角度展开,首先综述了全组分木质纤维素凝胶的制备方法,然后总结了通过各方法制得木质纤维素凝胶的结构、性能及应用,最后结合全组分木质纤维素凝胶制备过程中存在的问题,展望了全组分木质纤维素凝胶的发展趋势。     

The interactions between oil droplets and gel matrix affect the lubrication properties of sheared emulsion-filled gels

In this work the lubrication behaviour of emulsions, gels, and emulsion-filled gels was studied in relation to their composition and structure. It was found that emulsions had much lower friction coefficients than their continuous phases. Emulsions with 40 wt% oil had the same friction coefficient as the pure oil. The lubrication properties of the gels, sheared by pressing them through a syringe, strongly depended on the molecular properties of the gelling agent and on the breakdown behaviour of the gel matrix. For each type of emulsion-filled gel, the lubrication behaviour was affected by the interactions between oil droplets and matrix. For gels containing oil droplets bound to the matrix, the friction coefficient gradually decreased with increasing oil concentration. For gels containing oil droplets non-bound to the matrix, the friction coefficient of the filled gels was lower than that of the same gel matrix without oil. However, no effect of the oil concentration on friction was observed. The different effects of the oil concentration on the lubrication behaviour of the various gels were explained by the relation between droplet–matrix interactions and the ‘apparent viscosity’ of the sheared gels. For gels with bound droplets, increasing the oil concentration resulted in an increase of the ‘apparent viscosity’ of the sheared gel. For gels with unbound droplets, the oil concentration did not affect the ‘apparent viscosity’. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) observations of both emulsions and filled gels did not reveal coalescence of the oil droplets as a result of the shear treatment inherent to friction measurements.     

Natural polysaccharide-based gels for dairy food preservation

The innovative packaging systems described in the present work, based on natural gels, have been shown to increase the shelf life of the Mozzarella cheese, without adding any chemical substance and without thermal procedures. Physical, physicochemical, microbiological, analytical, and mechanical analyses were used to monitor the quality of the cheese as a function of storage type and storage time. In particular, microbiological analysis confirmed that the characteristics of the Mozzarella cheese stored at 4°C in gel are maintained for more than 15 d, whereas samples stored in the mother solution lost important characteristics after 5 d. A penetration test (texture) confirmed that the Mozzarella cheese preserved in the gel maintained mechanical properties similar to those of the fresh product, even after storage for 30 d at 4°C.