Author(s)

Quanquan Miao, Huaishi Jiang, Lei Gao, Yujie Cheng, Jiachao Xu, Xiaoting Fu, Xin Gao^*

College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China.

The rheological properties of five gum solutions (Gum Shiraz, Karaya Gum, Ghatti Gum, Arabic Gum and Gum Tragacanth) have been examined. The five mucilage solutions exhibited non-Newtonian, shear-thinning with thixotropy at higher concentrations (0.5% - 1%, m/v). According to the change of viscosity with increasing temperature, all five gums could be defined as three types: gum tragacanth and gum shiraz have a good temperature stability; karaya gum is affected by temperature obviously; the remaining two gums have a general stability. The viscosity of mucilage solutions (Arabic Gum, Ghatti Gum and Karaya Gum) had an apparent dependence on temperature. The parameter n of Shiraz Gum is the minimum, which means it has the best flow properties. The flow activation energy of karaya gum is 2.683 kcal which is the highest than other gums so that it has a great influence on temperature. The gum solutions’ viscosity had different sensitive degree over tested pH range (pH 2 - 10). Shiraz gum and arabic gum possessed better acid-proof and alkali-proof respectively. The addition of salts (NaCl and CaCl₂) led to the reduction of viscosity, which was more sensitive to Ca²⁺ than to Na⁺. Both storage modulus G’ and loss modulus G” of all five gums had a dependence on temperature and frequency. These results are potentially useful for the application in the field of food processing.

Plant Gums, Rheological Properties, Viscosity Behavior, Storage Modulus, Loss Modulus

Miao, Q. , Jiang, H. , Gao, L. , Cheng, Y. , Xu, J. , Fu, X. and Gao, X. (2018) Rheological Properties of Five Plant Gums. American Journal of Analytical Chemistry, 9, 210-223. doi: 10.4236/ajac.2018.94017.