Study on the Interactional Properties of Gelatin - Carrageenan Systems

The paper reports a study on the gelling properties of gelatin-carrageenan systems and the effect of pH and electrolytes on them. The results showed that the gelatin-carrageenan system had good gelling ability, the gel strength increasing with the ratio of gelatin to carrageenan between pH 6 to 10, and peaking at the ratio of 5 to 3. In the system where the ratio of gelatin to carrageenan was 1 to 1 and the pH value was 7, gel strength was constant through pH 5 to 11 while the water-holding ability increased with the rise of pH value, and on the contrary, both the melting point and the solidifying point decreased with much temperature rehysteresis between them. The addition of electrolytes at low level could increase the gel strength and the water-holding ability of the mixture of gelatin and carrageenan, while the melting point and the solidifying point of the gel of this mixture increased with the rise in electrolyte concentration with the temperature difference hysteresis between them decreasing continuously. Moreover, the effect of electrolytes on the gel strength was related to the pH value of the systems.