2012 Volume 70 Issue 1 Pages 59-70
Objective: To analyze the physical properties of green tea, milk, orange juice, and miso soup thickened with starch-based, guar gum-based, xanthan gum-based, and other thickeners and categorize these thickeners based on their effects on the physical properties of foods.
Methods: Thickened solutions were prepared by dissolving 15 types of thickeners into 4 foods, and their viscosities and textures were measured. Five indexes—viscosity, viscosity variances at 10 and 120 min after the addition of thickeners, initial viscosity increase rate (vis-IR), and adhesiveness—were calculated from the measured values. Principle component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CLA) were performed using these 5 indexes.
Results: The viscosity of each food was higher with guar gum-based thickeners than with other thickeners. Viscosity variances were dependent on the food/thickener combination. Vis-IR varied depending on the food type. Green tea, for example, had a higher vis-IR for xanthan gum-based thickeners, while orange juice had a higher vis-IR for starch-based thickeners. Adhesiveness was greatest for starch-based thickeners regardless of the food type. The distribution of thickeners based on the PCA of each of the 4 foods did not match their classification based on thickening ingredients. However, the CLA obtained using the 5 indexes of all the 4 foods as explanatory variables showed that the thickeners clustered according to their thickening ingredients.
Conclusion: Categorization of commercial thickeners based on their effects on the physical properties of foods varies depending on the food type. Therefore, it is important to select thickeners appropriate for a particular food type and purpose.
