INFLUENCE OF AGGREGATES ON THE SEDIMENTATION PROPERTIES OF WELAN GUM

The water-soluble bacterial polysaccharides are used by industry as em ulsifying, stabilizing, thickening and suspending agents, and eventual ly for their gelling properties. It has been observed that several of these properties may be influenced by the presence of disordered inter molecular associations (aggregates or microgels). The influence of agg regates on the sedimentation properties of welan gum were investigated by means of the falling sphere method. The velocity of the particle s edimentation is affected by the type and size of the aggregates.