Gelation mechanism of curdlan by dynamic viscoelasticity measurements

Gelation of curdlan was classified into two farms: thermo-reversible and th ermo-irreversible gelation, The temperature dependence of the rheological p roperties indicated that the temperature at which the transition to thermo- irreversible gel system occurred was concentration-dependent, while thermo- reversible gel formation temperature was independent of concentration. An i ncrease in concentration lowered the irreversible gel formation temperature from the generally reported 80 degrees C and decreased the amount of therm o-reversible component in the final gel. This indicates that an increase in the curdlan concentration promoted hydrophobic interactions between micell es at junction zones at a lower temperature than 80 degrees C.