Abstract
The physical properties (texture and rheology) of egg white gel with xanthan gum as an additive were studied. Egg white was first diluted with water (10g of H2O to 20g of egg white) and then xanthan gum was added to a final volume of 0.1% or 0.3%. The mixture was heated from 25°C to 85°C for 15min and kept at 85°C for 15min.
The egg white gel with 0.1% xanthan gum was similar to that of the control with no additive, although syneresis was lower in the former case. The viscosity and syneresis of the frozen control egg white gel were higher, the hardness was lower, and the elasticity was also lower than in the nonfrozen control sample. The physical properties of the frozen egg white gel with added xanthan gum were similar to the non-frozen sample, although the syneresis was lower. These results suggest that freezing may have no influence on the physical properties of egg white gel with added xanthan gum. The structure of the frozen stored egg white with added xanthan gum was composed of clusters similar to those before freezing or storage. Such clusters might have been responsible for the physical properties and syneresis of egg white with added xanthan gum.
