Lim Wen Xiu Sheryl (U062125Y)

FST 4103 Practical 1: Food Hydrocolloids

Introduction
Hydrocolloids are water-soluble, high molecular weight polysaccharides
that serve a variety of functions in food systems, such as enhancing
viscosity, creating gel-structures, formation of a film, control of
crystallization, inhibition of syneresis, improving texture, encapsulation of
flavors and lengthening the physical stability, etc. In this experiment, the
functional properties of alginate and xanthan gum in terms of their
viscousity, emulsion stabilizing properties and gel formation will be studied.
In addition, the two hydrocolloids will be compared under conditions that
may be present in food.
Materials and Methods
(As in lab manual)
Results and Discussion
Part 1
140

120

Calciumalginatebefore SHMP
100
Xanthangumbefore SHMP
80
Calciumalginateafter SHMP

60 Xanthangumafter SHMP
(p
) u
o
tyV
is
c

40

20

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
Concentration (%, w/v)

Figure 1: Plot of viscosity (cps) vs concentration (%, w/v) of calcium alginate

and xanthan gum before and after SHMP addition. Values from Table 1
(Appendix).
 The plot of viscosity versus concentration of gum before and after
sodium hexa-metaphosphate addition is as shown in Figure 1. As can be
observed, for both calcium alginate and xanthan gum, increasing the
concentration of gum added increased the viscosity. As polysaccharide gums
are dissolved in water, the formation of a complex network of weakly bound
molecules by intermolecular associations restrict the movement of water
molecules, thus increasing the viscosity (Yiu, 2006). In extreme cases, gels
are formed (see Part 3).
Another point to note is that a much lower concentration of xanthan
gum compared to sodium alginate is needed to produce similar viscosity. For
a similar value of 125 cps, 1.5% sodium alginate was needed whereas only
0.2% xanthan gum was required. This marked difference in viscosity could
be due to their individual structures. Xanthan gum is a microbial
heteropolysaccharide produced by the aerobic fermentation of Xanthomonas
campestris (Bresolin et al, 1998). It is composed of a backbone of 1,4-linked
β- -glucose with side chains bearing one acetylated mannose, one
glucuronic acid and one mannose (Fig. 2) (Schorsch et al., 1997) whereas
alginates are cell wall polysaccharides from brown algae and consists of
repeating units of β-D-mannuronic acid (M) and α-L-guluronic acid (G) (Fig. 3)
linked together with 1,4-glycosidic bonds in homopolymeric M-blocks, G-
blocks and heteropolymeric blocks of alternating M- and G-residues
(Onsoyen, 1992). Xanthan gum’s increased viscosity could be due to its
negatively charged carboxyl groups on the side chains which form weak
associations in solution. Furthermore xanthan gum is viscoplastic, and has a
high yield value even at low concentrations, thus resulting in its increased
viscosity (Imeson, 1997).
Figure 2: Repeating units of xanthan gum.

Figure 3: Repeating units of alginate.

In addition, the viscosity of xanthan gum is unaffected by the addition
of SHMP, but SHMP addition to alginate decreased its viscosity. Alginate
requires calcium or some other cation to link G residues diaxially to form a
gel network which would increase the viscosity. SHMP sequesters the
calcium inherent in the alginate thus preventing cross linkages to form,
leading to the decrease in viscosity (Nussinovitch, 1997).
Part 2
The time taken for vegetable oil to separate from water upon addition
of gums is compared in Table 2. As can be observed, addition of either gum
increased the time taken for the water and oil phases to separate, with
xanthan gum (infinite seconds) being more effective than sodium alginate
(600 s). As mentioned in Part 1, the formation of a complex network of
weakly bound molecules by intermolecular associations restrict the
movement of water molecules, which would prevent oil coalescence.
Specifically, alginate acts as a stabilizer by increasing the viscosity of the
aqueous phases and by producing charged films at the interfaces so that the
individual particles or droplets tend to repel one another avoiding
coalescence and phase separation (Imeson, 1997). As the viscosity of
xanthan gum is higher than alginate at the same concentration, it follows
that xanthan gum would stabilize the oil and water mixture for a longer
period of time.
Table 2: Time taken for water and oil phases to separate with water, and
sodium alginate or xanthan gum added.
Time
(s)

Water 100

0.5% sodium 600

alginate

0.5% xanthan ∞
gum

Part 3
 The appearance, strength and texture of diffusion setting sodium
alginate gel and internal setting gel is contrasted in Table 3. The gel set by
diffusion was more brittle, lumpy and had some water present. The internally
set gel was elastic and smooth and had some bubbles. Gelation of alginate is
caused by the cross linking of long polymer chains in the presence of cations
(like Ca2+) to form a continuous three-dimensional network which
immobilizes water, forming a firm and rigid structure resistant to flow. Two
basic methods have been used to control the introduction of cross linking
ions – diffusion and internal setting. The diffusion method lets the cross-
linking ion (Ca2+) diffuse from an outer reservoir into the alginate solution
whereas internal setting allows the Ca2+ ions to be released in a controlled
fashion from an inert calcium source within the alginate solution (Yiu,
2006).The main difference between internal and diffusion setting is the
gelling kinetics (Steinbuchel and Sang, 2005) and consequently would result
in the production of gels with various consistencies.
Table 3: Comparison of sodium alginate set by diffusion versus internal.

Diffusion setting gel Internal setting

gel

Appearance Water still present, Bubbles

lumpy

Strength Brittle Strongly

Texture Uneven surface Elastic, smooth

In this experiment, the diffusion setting gel had a large diffusion rate,
and because the binding reaction of cations (Ca2+) and alginate is very rapid
(Steinbuchel and Sang, 2005), the gel produced is non-homogenous and
lumpy. Another contributing factor leading to the non-homogeneity is that
the alginate concentration would gradually decrease towards the center of
the gel. In addition, the alginate polymer contracts as the ionic strength of
the solution increases (Nussinovitch, 1997), resulting in the liberation of free
water (weeping, syneresis) (Yiu, 2006).
In contrast, the internal setting gel had a more controlled release of
Ca ions due to citrate and phosphate which sequester free calcium,
2+

preventing pre-gelation of the alginate. The adipic acid is used to slowly

solubilise the calcium salt (Imeson, 1999) to form a more homogenous, non-
syneretic alginate gel.

Study Questions
1. Viscosity is an internal property of a fluid that offers resistance to flow.
It is important in structural characterization, process design
 calculations, process and quality control of products, process modeling,
and sensory perception.
2. A sequestering agent is a chemical that prevents the precipitation of a
metal cation with a precipitating anion. Sodium hexametaphosphate
has many nucleophilic sites due to its O- groups and competes for
metal cations like Ca2+ to form a soluble cation-sequestering anion
complex.
3. As mentioned in Part 1, gelling only occurs when the divalent cations
take part in the interchain ionic binding between guluronic acids blocks
(G-blocks) in the polymer chain giving rise to a three dimensional
network. Such binding zones between the G-blocks are often referred
to as “egg-boxes”. Without calcium, the gel network cannot be formed
and thus its ability to form gels is very much dependent on available
calcium.
4. (As mentioned in Part 1.) Briefly, as concentration of gum increases,
the formation of a complex network of weakly bound molecules by
intermolecular associations restrict the movement of water molecules,
thus increasing the viscosity.

5. As mentioned in Part 2, the high viscosity of xanthan gum and its high
yield value restrict the movement of water molecules, thus preventing
coalescence of oil.

6. Based on the results in Part 2, xanthan gum is a better stabilizer since

it prevent the oil and water from separating for a longer period of time.

7. As mentioned in Part 3, the diffusion method allows gelling ions to

diffuse into the alginate solution whereas the internal setting method
allows the ions to be released in a controlled fashion from an inert
calcium source within the alginate solution. The main difference
between internal and diffusion setting is the gelling kinetics which
results in different gel networks. The internal setting method is better
for creating a homogenous, non-syneretic alginate macrogel.

References

Bresolin, T.M.B., Milas, M., Rinaudo, M. and Ganter, J.L.M.S., 1998. Xanthan-
galactomannan interactions as related to xanthan conformations.
International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 23, pp. 263–275.

Imeson, Alan, 1997. Thickening and Gelling Agents for Food. Chapman and
Hall.
Nussinovitch A., 1997. Hydrocolloid applications: gum technology in the food
and other industries. Blackie Academic & Professional, London.

Onsoyen, E., 1992. . In: Imeson, I. Editor, , 1992. Thickening and gelling
agents for food. Blackies Academic & Professional, London, pp. 1–24.

Schorsch, C., Garnier, C. and Doublier, J.L., 1997. Viscoelastic properties of

xanthan/galactomannan mixtures: Comparison of guar gum with locust bean
gum. Carbohydrate Polymers 34, pp. 165–175.

Steinbüchel Alexander, Sang Ki Rhee, 2005. Polysaccharides and Polyamides

in the Food Industry: Properties, Production. Wiley VCH

Yiu H. Hui, 2006. Handbook of food science, technology, and engineering,

Volume 1. CRC press.

Appendix

Table 1: Viscosity (cps) vs concentration (%, w/v) of calcium alginate and

xanthan gum before and after SHMP addition.

Viscousity (cps)

Before SHMP After SHMP

Calcium alginate (%, 0.5 12 4

w/v) 1 56 40

1.5 128 64

Before SHMP After SHMP

0.0831
20 14
25
Xanthan gum (%, w/v)
0.1662
64 54
5

0.25 124 118