The effect of thermal history on the elasticity of K-type gellan gels

Elasticity of potassium type gellan gels prepared at different thermal histories was examined using dynamic viscoelastic measurements. The storage Young's modulus E′ decreased with increasing cooling rate during gelation. Once gel formation occurred, thermal history at lower temperature did not influence the elastic modulus and thermal stability of the gellan gels. On the other hand, thermal history around gelation temperature influenced strongly the elastic modulus and thermal stability of resulting gels. When the gellan solution was kept for a certain time before cooling at a temperature near the gelation temperature, it was found that gels with higher elastic modulus and thermal stability were formed.