Rheological properties of citrus pectin dispersions and its blends with polyquaternium‐7 and colloidal particles

This article reports on the rheological behavior of a 5% (w/w) citrus pectin (CP) dispersion, its blends with polyquaternium‐7 (PQ) and also with 200 nm nanoparticles (NP) and 1.8 µm microparticles (MP) of CP. The viscous (G″) and elastic (G′) moduli of the CP dispersion were similar, whereas G′ was higher than G″ for PQ. The 1:20 (w/w) blend of CP and PQ enhanced the viscoelastic profile of CP and also decreased its cross‐over frequency. NP and MP were equally effective in enhancing the viscoelastic properties of CP. The best viscoelastic behavior was obtained with 1:20:0.4 (w/w) CP:PQ:(NP or MP) composition. The association of CP with PQ and/or MP or NP tended to change the behavior of CP and PQ dispersions from pseudoplastic to Newtonian. Cox‐Merz superposition was observed for CP:PQ and CP:(MP or NP). These findings contribute for modulation of the rheological properties of CP dispersions for specific applications. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40583.