Food Research International 34 (2001) 695–703

www.elsevier.com/locate/foodres

Rheological properties of selected hydrocolloids as a

function of concentration and temperature
Michèle Marcottea, Ali R. Taherian Hoshahilia, H.S. Ramaswamyb,*
a
Food Research and Development Center, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 3600 Casavant Blvd West, St. Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada, J2S 8E3
b
Department of Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Macdonald College of McGill University, 21,111 Lakeshore,
Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Québec, Canada, H9V 3V9
Received 22 September 1999; accepted 20 March 2001

Abstract
In this study, rheological properties of several food hydrocolloids (carrageenan, pectin, gelatin, starch and xanthan) were eval-
uated using a rotational viscometer at three concentrations (1–6%, depending on the type of hydrocolloid) and four temperatures
(20, 40, 60 and 80
C). Samples were subjected to a programmed shear rate increasing linearly from 0 to 300 s1 in 3 min, followed
by a steady shear at 300 s1 for 10 min and finally a linearly decreasing shear rate from 300 s1 to 0 in 3 min. Experiments were
performed in duplicate. In general, the power law model fitted most of the experimental results. Xanthan gum and carrageenan (at
20oC) were exceptions, characterized by a yield stress and hence the rheograms were fitted with the Herschel-Bulkley model.
Furthermore, gelatin showed a Newtonian behavior. Three models (power, exponential and polynomial) were used to evaluate
the concentration effect on apparent viscosity. Arrhenius model was used to describe the temperature effect. Among the samples,
carrageenan showed the most temperature dependency and xanthan gum, the least. # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights
reserved.
Keywords: Rheology; Food gums; Protein; Newtonian Viscosity; Shear viscosity

1. Introduction
The rheological behavior of hydrocolloids is of special
importance when they are used to modify textural
attributes. It is also well recognized that rheological
properties play a role in process design, evaluation and
modeling. These properties are sometimes measured as
an indicator of product quality (e.g. indication of total
solids or change in molecular size). Rheological data are
required for calculation in any process involving fluid
flow (e.g. pump sizing, extraction, filtration, extrusion,
purification) and play an important role in the analyses
of flow conditions in food processes such as pasteuriza-
tion, evaporation, drying and aseptic processing.
Hydrocolloids (e.g. xanthan, carrageenan, pectin,
starch and gelatin) are generally used in food applica-
tions due to their functional properties (Walker, 1983).
Several studies have been carried out to quantify the
rheological characteristics of food hydrocolloids indivi-
dually or in food formulations (Abdelrahim, Ramas-
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-514-398-7919; fax: +1-514-398-
7977.
E-mail addresses: marcottem@em.agr.ac (M. Marcotte),
ramaswamy@macdonald.mcgill.ca (H.S. Ramaswamy).
0963-9969/01/$ - see front matter # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S0963-9969(01)00091-6
wamy, & van de Voort, 1995; da Silva & Rao, 1995; da
Silva, Pedro, Oliveira, & Rao, 1997; Dickie & Kokini,
1983; Krumel & Sarkar, 1975; Ma & Barbosa-Canovas,
1996; Sanderson, 1981; Stanley, 1990; White, Davidson,
& Otten, 1993). The viscosity of hydrocolloids can be
significantly affected by variables such as shear rate,
temperature, pressure and time of shearing. For New-
tonian fluids, at constant temperature and pressure, the
viscosity does not vary with the shear rate. For most
non-Newtonian fluids, the viscosity decreases with an
increase in shear rate, giving rise to what is known as
pseudoplasticity or shear-thinning behavior (Barnes,
Hutton, & Walters, 1989; Rao, 1977). It has been
recognized that pseudoplasticity represents an irrever-
sible structural breakdown and the decrease in viscosity
occurs as a result of molecular alignment that takes
place within such a substance (Glicksman, 1969). At the
opposite end is dilatancy which is the behavior showing
an increase in viscosity with increasing shear rate.
The effect of concentration on apparent viscosity of
hydrocolloids is generally described by either an expo-
nential or a power relationship (Rao & Kenny, 1975;
Speers & Tung, 1986). Moreover, temperature has an
important influence on the flow behavior of hydrocolloid
solutions. Since different temperatures are usually
696 M. Marcotte et al. / Food Research International 34 (2001) 695–703
encountered during processing of hydrocolloids, their
rheological properties are studied as a function of tem-
perature. The effect of temperature on the apparent
viscosity at a specified shear rate is generally expressed
by an Arrhenius-type model (Rao & Anantheswaran,
1982; Rao & Kenny, 1975; Speers and Tung, 1986).
Several models have been used to describe the flow
behavior of hydrocolloid solutions, for example, linear
(Newtonian or Bingham), power law (Ostwald-de-
Waele), power law with an yield stress (Herschel-Bulk-
ley) and Casson models. The power law model is per-
haps the most widely employed model for non-
Newtonian liquids and is used extensively to describe
the flow properties of liquids in theoretical analysis as
well as in practical engineering applications (Barnes et
al., 1989). Hydrocolloid solutions may also exhibit time-
dependent properties, mainly thixotropy, which means
that the apparent viscosity or consistency will decrease
with time. In the studies by Abdelrahim, Ramaswamy,
Doyon (1994) and Ramaswamy and Basak (1991, 1992),
a modified Weltmann logarithmic model (Weltmann,
1943) was utilized to describe the thixotropic behavior
of CMC and pectin solutions in flavored yogurt respec-
tively.
Hydrocolloids play an important role in the overall
acceptability of food products by increasing the physical
stability of foods and the overall mouth-feel properties.
For example, gelatin owes its importance to the unique
rheological characteristic in creating the ‘melt in the
mouth’ texture, typical of a gelatin gel (Johnston-Banks,
1990). Gums and stabilizers are incorporated into a
range of diverse food formulations. In particular, they
are used to offer resistance to undesired physical pro-
cesses such as crystallization, gravitational sedimenta-
tion and mechanical disaggregation, which might
otherwise occur during distribution and storage. The
addition of gums to food product very often changes the
perceived character of food beyond recognition. These
changes may be vital in achieving consumer acceptance
(Houska, Valentova, Novotna, Strohalm, Stestak, &
Pokorny, 1998; Morley, 1983; Osman, 1975; Walker,
1983).
The objective of this study was to evaluate the rheo-
logical properties of selected food hydrocolloids as
influenced by concentration and temperature.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Sample preparation
Samples of commercial hydrocolloids: xanthan (Rho-
digel, lot No. 9635002, Rhône- Poulenc Food Ingre-
dients, Fort Washington, PA), carrageenan (Grinsted
Carrageenan, CL210, Danisco Ingredients Inc., Rex-
dale, ON), pectin (Grinsted Pectin, RS400 lot No.
701J547, Danisco Ingredients Inc., Rexdale, ON), gela-
tin (Gelatin, type B 250 bloom, Germantown Canada
Inc., Scarborough, ON), starch (Thermo-flo starch,
NFPA 0934 lot No. LF5919, National Starch and Che-
mical Corp., Bridgewater, NJ) were obtained from dif-
ferent sources. Three levels of concentration were
employed: xanthan (1, 2 and 3%), carrageenan (1, 2 and
3%), pectin (1, 3 and 5%), gelatin (2, 3 and 4%), and
starch (4, 5 and 6%). Measured amounts of test hydro-
colloids were dispersed into distilled water using a high
speed blender for 8 min at 80
C, as recommended by the
manufacturers. Dispersions were centrifuged (Cen-
trifuge, Model GS-6, Palo Alto, CA) at 900  g for 5
min to remove entrapped air bubbles and cooled. Each
dispersion was prepared in duplicate. Temperature
effects were evaluated at four levels (20, 40, 60 and
80
C).
2.2. Rheological measurement
Rheological evaluations were performed using a
rotational viscometer (Haake Model RV20, Haake
Mess-Technik, Karlsruhe, Germany) equiped with a M5
OSC measuring head and a MV2 rotor (radius of the
rotor, Rr, 18.4 mm; height, h, 60 mm, radius of the
cylindrical cup, Rc, 21 mm) used in the rotational mode
and programmed via a computer controlled Rheocon-
troller RC20 module. Samples were loaded into the
sample cup and allowed to equilibrate for 20 min at the
desired temperature and were subjected to a pro-
grammed shear rate linearly increasing from 0–300 s1
in 3 min, followed by a steady shear at 300 s1 for 10
min and a finally a linearly decreasing shear rate from
300 s1 to 0 in 3 min. Silicone oil standards (Cannon
Instrument Company, State College, PA) were used to
calibrate the rheometer. Shear stress-shear rate data
were gathered as rheograms.
2.3. Data analysis and calculations
2.3.1. Newtonian Model
Since the viscosity of aqueous solutions of gelatin did
not change with changing shear rate, they were eval-
uated using a Newtonian model:


¼  ð1Þ


where
is the viscosity,  is the shear stress and  is the
shear rate.
2.3.2. Power-law model
Logarithmic plots of shear stress versus shear rate
were used to calculate the consistency coefficient (m)
and the flow behavior index (n) for starch and pectin
solutions:
 M. Marcotte et al. / Food Research International 34 (2001) 695–703

 ¼ m n
2.3.3. Hershel-Bulkley model
Eq. (3) was used to evaluate the Hershel-Bulkley
model consistency coefficeint, m0 and flow behavior
index, n0 values for xanthan at all temperatures and
carrageenan at 20
C, since these products demonstrated
a noticeable yield stress. The intercept of the linear
portion of the upward curve from logarithmic plot of
shear-stress vs shear-rate curve was obtained from the
computer software as yield stress, 0:
 0
  0 ¼ m0  n
As recommended by Steffe (1992), a shear analysis
test was used to assess the validity of using the power-
law model. Corrections to shear rates were made using n
Fig. 1. Typical flow curves for selected hydrocolloids at 20
C.
697
ð2Þ values employing Eq. (4):
" 2 #
 2! n
¼ ð4Þ
n 2n1
[4] where ! is the angular velocity and  is the ratio of
the radius of the cup over the radius of the cylinder. The
onset of turbulent flow (Steffe, 1992) was also evaluated
to ensure that the flow remained laminar without the
effect of centrifugal forces that could create Taylor vor-
tex within samples. The worst-case scenario (i.e. highest
angular velocity, highest temperature and smallest con-
ð3Þ centration) was tested for all hydrocolloids.
Apparent viscosity (or viscosity for gelatin) was com-

puted at a shear rate of 50 s1 as the ratio of   using
the appropriate Eqs. (1–3). The low shear rate of 50 s1
was selected because it has been reported as an effective
698 M. Marcotte et al. / Food Research International 34 (2001) 695–703

oral shear rate (Morris, 1983). The viscosity for gelatin
or apparent viscosity (50 s1) for all other hydrocolloids
were then used to determine the viscosity-concentration
and viscosity-temperature relationships.
The concentration effect at each temperature was exam-
ined using three models: a power model (Eq. 5), an expo-
nential model (Eq. 6) and a polynomial model (Eq. 7):

¼ aCb
The temperature dependency of viscosity or apparent
viscosity for each hydrocolloid concentration was eval-
uated by applying the Arrhenius model:

¼ AexpðEa=RTÞ ð8Þ
where A is the frequency factor, Ea is the activation
energy and R is the gas constant.
ð5Þ

¼ aexpðbCÞ ð6Þ 3. Results and discussion

¼ 1 þ aC þ bC2 ð7Þ Typical rheograms for selected hydrocolloids eval-

uated at 20
C are shown in Fig. 1 for comparison. A
Each model was evaluated for all hydrocolloids using clearly Newtonian behavior was observed with gelatin
data for upward curves. Parameters a and b were cal- (a protein) while the others were found to be non-New-
culated for each model. tonian, shear-thinning (pseudoplastic) fluids. Similar

Table 1
The Herschel-Bulkely parameters for carrageenan and xanthan at different concentrations and temperatures

Sample/Temperature  o (pa) Upward curve Downward curve

m0 (Pa sn) n0 () R2 m0 (Pa sn) n0 () R2

1% Carrageenan
20
C – 0.52
0.07 0.53
0.01 0.99 0.50
0.04 0.52
0.01 0.99
40
C – 0.10
0.002 0.62
0.001 0.98 0.094
0.007 0.66
0.008 0.99
60
C – 0.051
0.001 0.72
0.01 0.96 0.052
0.004 0.72
0.02 0.95
80
C – 0.030
0.003 0.78
0.003 0.90 0.027
0.002 0.82
0.009 0.95

2% Carrageenan
20
C 49.24 8.8
0.7 0.49
0.04 0.99 6.4
0.7 0.51
0.01 0.99
40
C – 0.39
0.003 0.55
0.007 0.99 0.42
0.02 0.52
0.004 0.99
60
C – 0.13
0.02 0.68
0.009 0.96 0.17
0.006 0.65
0.008 0.98
80
C – 0.081
0.005 0.74
0.046 0.99 0.075
0.001 0.76
0.04 0.99

3% Carrageenan
20
C 56.49 14.0
0.33 0.45
0.02 0.97 15.3
0.25 0.42
0.003 0.99
40
C – 4.70
0.21 0.48
0.01 0.95 4.50
0.1 0.50
0.009 0.99
60
C – 0.460
0.007 0.61
0.01 0.99 0.48
0.02 0.65
0.005 0.99
80
C – 0.230
0.03 0.68
0.01 0.99 0.22
0.03 0.71
0.02 0.99

1% Xanthan
20
C 7.24 2.60
0.3 0.21
0.002 0.98 2.26
0.09 0.27
0.008 0.97
40
C 6.00 2.10
0.4 0.24
0.003 0.97 2.09
0.09 0.29
0.003 0.98
60
C 5.19 1.98
0.01 0.26
0.002 0.99 1.87
0.02 0.31
0.01 0.99
80
C 3.97 1.60
0.01 0.29
0.002 0.99 1.50
0.008 0.35
0.001 0.99

2% Xanthan
20
C 10.1 7.30
0.4 0.19
0.009 0.99 5.31
0.09 0.25
0.002 0.99
40
C 8.51 7.70
0.7 0.23
0.01 0.99 6.30
0.2 0.28
0.005 0.99
60
C 7.41 7.40
0.5 0.27
0.006 0.99 6.80
0.9 0.28
0.003 0.99
80
C 6.68 10.8
0.9 0.296
0.002 0.99 10.5
0.2 0.310
0.007 0.99

3% Xanthan
20
C 31.1 14.3
0.4 0.18
0.002 0.97 9.40
0.6 0.25
0.01 0.99
40
C 25.8 11.8
0.9 0.21
0.006 0.99 9.10
0.9 0.26
0.004 0.99
60
C 23.6 13.0
2 0.24
0.008 0.99 10.0
1 0.28
0.002 0.99
80
C 19.98 15
4 0.30
0.02 0.98 12
1 0.337
0.008 0.99

Hershel-Bulkley parameters:  o, yield stress; m0 , consistency coefficient; n0 , flow behavior index;

values indicate the standard deviation. The
number of replicates, 2.
 M. Marcotte et al. / Food Research International 34 (2001) 695–703 699

curves were obtained at other concentrations and tem-
peratures. Earlier studies have also shown that aqueous
gelatin is Newtonian at most temperatures; but just
above the setting point, the viscosity becomes markedly
time dependent owing to the degree of aggregation tak-
ing place which is accentuated by higher concentrations
and high molecular weights (Johnston-Banks, 1990).
The onset of turbulent flow was tested. Results indi-
cated that only in one condition (pectin 1% and at
80
C) Taylor vortices might have been produced. The
related data were discarded. Understandably, pectin
(1%) demonstrated a nearly Newtonian like flow beha-
vior (n=0.96, close to 1).
The parameters obtained for the power-law model for
starch and pectin (Eq. 2) and Herschel-Bulkely model
for carrageenan and xanthan (Eq. 3) and Newtonian
model (Eq. 1) for gelatin are summarized in Tables 1–3.
The coefficients of determination, for all cases, were
higher than 0.99 with higher concentrations and tem-
peratures showing slightly lower values. Shear rate
corrections (Steffe, 1992) to experimental data were
performed. As a result of corrections, values of flow
behavior index remained unchanged while values of
consistency coefficients were only marginally affected;
nevertheless the recalculated shear rates were used.
Xanthan gum samples, under all test conditions, and
2 and 3% carrageenan samples, only at 20
C, were
characterized by an yield stress. Higher yield stress
values were observed at higher concentrations and
lower temperatures. This is in agreement with Szczes-
niak (1985) who also indicated that the appearance of
an yield stress followed by shear-thinning is a typical
behavior for xanthan gum. The author also mentioned
that this behavior was caused by intermolecular asso-
ciation due to acetate residues. It has been recognized
that the yield stress is a useful property of gums when
they are used as binders, because it helps keep various
components of the food formulation in place (Rao and
Kenny, 1975; Szczesniak, 1985). Rao and Kenny (1975)
demonstrated that yield stress affects directly the

Table 2
Power-law parameters for starch and pectin at different concentrations and temperatures

Sample/Temperature Upward curve Downward curve

2
n
m (Pa s ) n () R m (Pa sn) n () R2

4% Starch
20
C 2.05
0.05 0.53
0.002 0.99 1.96
0.07 0.54
0.003 0.99
40
C 1.20
0.1 0.55
0.002 0.99 1.14
0.09 0.56
0.006 0.99
60
C 0.68
0.005 0.57
0.003 0.99 0.63
0.007 0.61
0.001 0.99
80
C 0.44
0.006 0.60
0.005 0.99 0.39
0.003 0.61
0.001 0.99

5% Starch
20
C 6.80
0.2 0.50
0.007 0.98 7.20
0.2 0.51
0.01 0.99
40
C 3.90
0.1 0.52
0.002 0.99 4.17
0.06 0.52
0.02 0.99
60
C 2.39
0.04 0.53
0.006 0.99 2.60
0.1 0.53
0.001 0.99
80
C 1.49
0.005 0.54
0.001 0.99 1.53
0.05 0.55
0.001 0.99

6% Starch
20
C 20.5
0.6 0.43
0.008 0.99 20.3
0.7 0.44
0.005 0.99
40
C 12.5
0.09 0.46
0.002 0.99 13.1
0.3 0.45
0.005 0.99
60
C 7.23
0.07 0.47
0.004 0.99 7.70
0.1 0.46
0.001 0.99
80
C 4.08
0.07 0.50
0.008 0.99 4.60
0.1 0.49
0.002 0.99

1% Pectin
20
C 0.055
0.005 0.83
0.007 0.98 0.059
0.004 0.84
0.01 0.99
40
C 0.027
0.003 0.85
0.001 0.97 0.026
0.0003 0.88
0.03 0.99
60
C 0.017
0.002 0.89
0.002 0.98 0.017
0.001 0.91
0.008 0.97

3% Pectin
20
C 0.93
0.02 0.81
0.006 0.99 0.90
0.01 0.82
0.002 0.99
40
C 0.41
0.003 0.86
0.008 0.99 0.40
0.002 0.86
0.002 0.99
60
C 0.17
0.006 0.87
0.006 0.99 0.17
0.005 0.88
0.007 0.99

5% Pectin
20
C 5.92
0.08 0.72
0.003 0.99 5.10
0.1 0.73
0.006 0.99
40
C 2.19
0.05 0.76
0.01 0.99 2.33
0.03 0.76
0.003 0.99
60
C 1.20
0.06 0.81
0.004 0.99 1.09
0.09 0.84
0.01 0.99
80
C 0.55
0.02 0.869
0.005 0.99 0.55
0.01 0.878
0.005 0.99

Power-law parameters: m, consistency coefficient; n, flow behavior index;

values indicate the standard deviation. Number of replicates, 2.
700 M. Marcotte et al. / Food Research International 34 (2001) 695–703

amount of material retained on the walls of containers depend on the method of evaluation and condition of
and process vessels. The concept of yield stress has been the experimentation.
discussed in detail by Christianson and Bagely (1984) Starch, pectin and carageenan (except at 20
C)
who evaluated the yield stresses in dispersions of swol- exhibited a power-law shear-thinning behavior, char-
len, deformable corn starch granules and found the acterized by an n value less than 1 at all concentrations
experimentally determined value of yield stress to and temperatures (Tables 1 and 2). Gelatin character-
istically displayed a Newtonian behavior and their visc-
Table 3 osity at different concentrations and temperatures are
Viscosity of gelatin at different concentrations and temperatures given in Table 3.
Sample/Temperature Upward curve Downward curve For all hydrocolloids (except gelatin), an increase in
concentration was accompanied with an increase in
Viscosity (Pa s) R2 Viscosity (Pa s) R2 pseudoplasticity, shown by a decrease in values of the
2% Gelatin flow behavior index (n or n0 ). As expected, the con-
20
C 0.014
0.001 0.97 0.014
0.002 0.99 sistency coefficient (m or m0 ) increased with the con-
40
C 0.0060
0.0002 0.94 0.0050
0.0003 0.98 centration of hydrocolloids. For gelatin the viscosity
60
C 0.0050
0.0001 0.98 0.0040
0.0002 0.91
decreased with temperature; however, within the range
80
C 0.0030
0.0002 0.87 0.0030
0.0002 0.94
of concentration employed (2–4%), the viscosity was
3% Gelatin almost unaffected by concentration.
20
C 0.016
0.0005 0.98 0.016
0.0007 0.98 A decrease in consistency coefficient (m or m0 ) was
40
C 0.0068
0.0001 0.95 0.0060
0.0006 0.92 observed with the increasing temperature indicating a
60deg;C 0.0050
0.0001 0.96 0.0050
0.0002 0.91
decrease in apparent viscosity at higher temperatures.
80
C 0.0040
0.0002 0.91 0.0040
0.0001 0.95
The flow behavior index (n or n0 ) showed an increasing
4% Gelatin trend with the temperature which indicated that hydro-
20
C 0.017
0.0002 0.99 0.017
0.0005 0.99 colloid solutions were tending to be closer to Newtonian
40
C 0.0071
0.0001 0.93 0.0070
0.0003 0.96 flow at higher temperatures. Comparatively, the magni-
60
C 0.0060
0.0001 0.96 0.0060
0.0001 0.97
tude of flow behavior index was the lowest for xanthan
80
C 0.0050
0.0001 0.96 0.0050
0.0001 0.96
and the highest for pectin within the range of con-

Values indicate the standard deviation. Number of replicates, 2. centration levels studied. Starch and carrageenan had
Table 4
Concentration coefficients (Eqs. 5, 6 and 7) for apparent viscosities for upward curves of selected hydrocolloidsa

Power Exponential Polynomial

a b R2 a b R2 a b R2

(Pa s.%1) () (Pa s) (1/%) (1/%) (1/%)

Carrageenan
20
C 0.668 4.4045 0.89 0.0947 2.292 0.78 6.8 3.09 0.8
40
C 0.066 3.251 0.89 0.0108 1.877 0.97 2.262 1.037 0.97
60
C* 0.0397 1.88825 0.93 0.0139 1.076 0.98 0.039 0.054 0.97
80
C* 0.0229 1.7866 0.99 0.0091 0.995 0.99 0.0006 0.019 0.99

Pectin
20
C 0.0476 2.733 0.99 0.019 1.156 0.98 1.38 0.442 1
40
C 0.0247 2.652 0.99 0.0106 1.081 0.98 0.953 0.231 0.95
60
C 0.0148 2.519 0.98 0.0063 1.047 0.99 0.895 0.185 0.84

Starch
20
C 0.00075 5.546 0.99 0.01855 1.126 0.99 4.824 1.192 0.97
40
C 0.0004 5.683 0.99 0.00985 1.155 0.99 3.171 0.754 0.97
60
C 0.0002 5.718 0.99 0.00545 1.161 0.99 2.023 0.459 0.98
80
C 0.0002 5.351 1 0.00495 1.085 0.99 1.273 0.271 0.98

Xanthan
20
C 5.612 1.332 0.92 2.695 0.765 0.98 0.196 2.908 0.97
40
C 4.826 1.352 0.97 2.348 0.765 0.99 0.889 2.179 0.99
60
C 4.254 1.448 0.96 1.968 0.818 0.99 0.031 2.435 0.99
80
C 3.582 1.695 1 1.541 0.929 0.97 0.749 2.219 1
a
The number of replicates is 2 for each experimental condition.
* The polynomial model was been changed to
=aC+bC*C for this case.
 M. Marcotte et al. / Food Research International 34 (2001) 695–703 701

intermediate values. Szczesniak (1985) showed that gum
solutions with a high value of n tend to feel slimy in the
mouth. When high viscosity and a good mouth feel
characteristics are desired, the choice should be a gum
system having a low n value. It has also been reported
that, for a given gum type, the value of flow behavior
index (n or n0 ) and its change with concentration are
highly dependent on the molecular size (Hamza-Chaffai,
1990; Rao and Kenny, 1975; Speers and Tung, 1986).
Table 4 summarizes the regression model parameters
a and b (Eqs. 5–7) for apparent viscosity at 50 s1,
obtained from the upward curves, for all non-New-
tonian hydrocolloids. Gelatin data were not included
because it was found that it was not affected by its con-
centration within the range studied. The coefficients of
determination obtained were high indicating that the
models adequately describe the associated variability.
For the power model, the parameter ‘‘a’’ decreased with
temperature for all hydrocolloids. Parameter ‘‘b’’ also
decreased with increasing temperatures for carrageenan
and pectin whereas for xanthan and starch the asso-
ciated changes were very small. For the exponential
model, parameters a and b were very similar for pectin
and starch. Polynomial models were successful in

Fig. 2. Arrhenius plots for apparent viscosity of selected hydrocolloids.

702 M. Marcotte et al. / Food Research International 34 (2001) 695–703
Table 5
Arrhenius model (
=Aexp(Ea/RT) ) for temperature dependency of
apparent viscosity (at 50 s1) for selected hydrocolloids (viscosity for
gelatin) at different concentrationsa
Samples Concentration (%) A (Pa s) Ea (kJ/mole) R2
Carrageenan 1 2.991010 30.3 0.85
2 3.381010 51.8 0.83
3 2.64107 54.9 0.98
Xanthan 1 1.42102 5.74 0.88
2 1.72102 0.36 0.20
3 nc nc
Starch 4 1.59104 18.7 0.99
5 3.49104 19.4 0.99
6 6.46104 20.1 0.99
6
Pectin 1 8.9310 19.6 0.99
3 1.51105 33.4 0.99
5 1.74104 22.7 0.97
Gelatin 2 3.84106 19.6 0.93
3 1.36105 16.8 0.88
4 2.14105 15.8 0.85
a
A, frequency factor; Ea, activation energy; nc, not computed.
Number of replicates is 2 for each experimental condition.
describing the concentration dependency of apparent
viscosity, except that for carrageenan at 60 and 80
C,
the model had to be used without the intercept 1 (Eq. 7).
A clear linear and quadratic effect of concentration on
apparent viscosity was found for carrageenan, pectin
and starch. Parameters a and b were also decreasing at
high temperatures indicating a lower dependency of
apparent viscosity on concentration. There was no defi-
nite trend for xanthan for the polynomial model indi-
cating that there might be a strong interaction between
the temperature and the concentration. Similar trends
were observed for downward curves (results not shown).
The temperature dependency of apparent viscosity
was investigated using the Arrhenius model. For non-
Newtonian liquids, a shear rate of 50 s1 was used to
calculate the apparent viscosity (from Eqs. 5–7). For
gelatin, a Newtonian fluid, the slope of the shear stress-
shear curve determined the viscosity. The Arrhenius-
type of temperature dependency model [Eq. (8)] was
evaluated. Fig. 2 illustrates that apparent viscosity for
carrageenan, xanthan, pectin and starch, and viscosity
of gelatin in relation with temperature generally obey
the Arrhenius model. Frequency factors, activation
energies and coefficients of determination are listed in
Table 5. Among the samples examined, xanthan solu-
tions had a consistent change in apparent viscosity with
increasing temperature at 1% concentration. However,
at 2 and 3% the associated changes were very small.
This is in agreement with Speers and Tung (1986) who
found the same trend with xanthan gum. Xanthan gum
gave the lowest Ea values. The model was not good for
the 2% concentration yielding an R2 value of 0.2. At
3% concentration, the apparent viscosity showed even a
small increase in viscosity with temperature. The model
was not applied for this later situation since it would
give a negative Ea. Carrageenan solutions showed the
highest values of activation energy. Their apparent
viscosity was most affected by the temperature, with the
influence increasing with concentration. Starch, pectin
and gelatin had intermediate values of activation ener-
gies and their viscosity was less affected by temperature
as compared to carrageenan.
4. Conclusions
The concentration and temperature dependency of
rheological characteristics were determined for selected
hydrocolloids. Higher gum concentrations resulted in
an increase of both Newtonian and apparent (at 50 s1)
viscosities. Xanthan was found to be the most pseudo-
plastic and the least temperature dependent of all
hydrocolloids studied. Gelatin viscosities were indepen-
dent of shear rate (Newtonian) and slightly affected by
concentration. Carrageenan was mostly affected by
temperature and exhibited an enormous yield stress at
low temperature. Starch and pectin showed an inter-
mediate behavior as compared to carrageenan and xan-
than with respect to concentration and temperature
dependency of rheological properties.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to sincerely thank Nicolas
Elazhary and François Brunet for their valuable help in
carrying out the experimental work.
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