Study on the Rheology and Interactions of Casein-Carrageenan System
Article
Figures
Metrics
Preview PDF
Reference
Related
Cited by
Materials
Abstract:
In this study, the effects of different amounts of carrageenan on the particle size and rheological properties of the casein-carrageenan system were studied. Furthermore, the intermolecular forces that contribute to the rheological and gel properties of the system were explored to reveal the gelation mechanism of the casein and carrageenan mixture. The results showed that increased concentrations of carrageenan resulted in an increased particle size of the system. When the concentration was 0.5%, the molecular size became 1096.8 nm, almost five times the molecular diameter of casein. This indicates that absorption occurred between carrageenan and casein. Rheological tests showed that the system exhibited pseudo-plastic fluid characteristics. With increasing amounts of carrageenan, the flow index, n, decreased from 0.9251 to 0.7270, and the consistency coefficient, K, increased from 0.3796 to 3.4403. Upon addition of NaCl and urea, the gelation strength of the system decreased to various extents. When the concentrations of the two components were 1.0 mol/L, the loss ratios of the system gelation strength were 100% and 32.4%, respectively. The intermolecular interactions were mainly composed of electrostatic interactions. Infrared spectroscopy analysis showed that the secondary structure of casein changed after the reaction, which further proved that a cross-linking reaction took place between carrageenan and casein.
