Rheological properties, gelling behavior and texture characteristics of polysaccharide from Enteromorpha prolifera.

Polysaccharide from Enteromorpha prolifera (PE) which is the most common green algae is gradually becoming an attractive candidate with novel functions by virtue of its unique chemical and physicochemical properties. The infrared spectrum (FT-IR) of PE confirmed that it is a distinctive, sulfated heteropolysaccharide. Dynamic rheology was systematically conducted to investigate the effect of concentration, temperature, pH, and electrolytes on PE. The flow behavior testing verified its pseudoplastic character. A closed hysteresis loop was obtained when the PE concentration reached 10 g/L. For the phase angel (tanδ) was always less than 1, the solid-like behavior of PE is also found at 10-14 g/L PE in the linear viscoelastic region (LVR). Furthermore, study on its potential gelling behavior showed that 16 g/L PE could form a gel and had well textural properties. The unique functional groups and characteristics of PE provided the possibility to apply into food industry.