Abstract
To determine the effect of an addition of locust bean gum on improving the quality of frozen-thawed κ-carrageenan gel, two kinds of gel with locust bean gum were compared; A-gel was the mixed gel of κ-carrageenan and locust bean gum, B-gel was a marketed gelling agent “PEARLAGAR-8” gel with 8.3% glucose. Both gels with 0, 5, 10 or 20% sucrose were frozen at 0.1~686 MPa and −20°C. When pressurized at 200~400 MPa and −20°C, they froze quickly by pressure-shift-freezing, therefore small/round ice crystals formed and maintained the same course gel network as non-frozen gel. Changes in texture and syneresis were thus prevented. Because B-gel has more glucose than A-gel, the quality of frozen-thawed gel was best to worst in B-gel > A-gel > κ-carrageenan gel. Thus, the additions of locust bean gum and sucrose/glucose to gel were effective in improving quality of frozen-thawed κ-carrageenan gel.
