Abstract
The substitution of potassium chloride (KCl) and calcium chloride (CaCl2) for sodium chloride (NaCl)on the mechanical properties and salt intensities of 0.8% and 1.2% agar gels and 1.2% and 1.6% gellan gum gels containing 1.0% NaCl were examined using a physical measuring apparatus and a sensory evaluation. There was no correlation between salt concentration and rupture stress, rupture strain or rupture energy of agar gel. The rupture stresses of 1.2% and 1.6% gellan gum gels containing 0.5% NaCl and 0.5% CaCl2 were significantly smaller than that of gellan gum gel containing 1.0% NaCl (p＜0.001). The syneresis of gellan gum gel with NaCl and CaCl2 increased with increasing substitution ratio of CaCl2 for NaCl (p＜0.001). The salt intensities of agar gel or gellan gum gel with 0.5% NaCl and 0.5% CaCl2 were found to be smaller than those of gels with 1.0% NaCl (p＜0.001). The decreases of salt intensities of agar gels and gellan gum gels may be due to the bitter taste of KCl or CaCl2 rather than the chemical and physical restraints of cations.
