Rheological behavior of the galactomannan fraction from Gleditsia triacanthos seed in aqueous dispersion

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to explore the influence of hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide, and sodium chloride on the rheological behavior of the galactomannan fraction from Gleditsia triacanthos seeds in aqueous solution. The flow (shear and extensional) and viscoelastic behavior as well as the dielectric properties were analyzed. The results indicated the existence of an interconnected microstructure, mainly in the macromolecular systems dispersed in HCl aqueous-solution, whose macromolecular arrangement leads to higher shear and extensional viscosity profiles, and contributes to improve the resistance to high shear deformation of this systems. The electrical conductivity profile of the Gledi-galactomannan in NaOH, HCl and NaCl aqueous-solution would indicate an increase or improvement in the continuity of the macromolecular arrangements compared to the polysaccharide in water. The conjugation of the galactomannan with Cl− ions would contribute to stabilize the microstructure. These results contribute to understand how the galactomannan fraction from Gleditsia triacanthos seeds could influence the microstructure and texture of ended-products, helping to consider its future applications.