Synergistic degradation of konjac glucomannan by alkaline and thermal method.

The application of konjac glucomannan (KGM) in the food industry is always limited by its high viscosity. Hereby, low-viscosity KGM was prepared by alkaline-thermal degradation method. This process was demonstrated by the changes of average molecular weight and a kinetic model was developed. The results revealed that high alkalinity and high temperature had a synergetic effect on degradation. The structure of hydrolysates was evaluated by periodate oxidation and their fluidly properties were researched by rheology measurements. The degradation was divided into two regimes. The rate of the first regime (within 1h) is higher than that of the second one (last 1h). It is found that alkaline hydrolysis and deacetylation have a synergistic effect on the degradation under high alkalinity (pH 9.2) and low temperature condition (25 °C). Finally, rheology parameters showed alkaline-thermal degradation is a promising way that can be applied in practice to degrade KGM.