Locust viscosity

Locust bean gum is not completely soluble in cold water it must be heated to 80°C and cooled to attain a stable solution that has high viscosity at low concentrations. The gum is compatible with other plant gums and the viscosity of solutions is not appreciably affected by pH or salts. 

It has a high viscosity (thickness) even when very little is used. When mixed with xanthan gum or locust bean gum, the viscosity is more than when either one is used alone, so less of each can be used. 

The viscosity of natural gums, such as cellulose gums, mannogalactans, seaweed, pectin, locust bean gum, guar gum, and tragacanth has important industrial applications in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, textile, adhesives, and paint fields. The characteristics of viscosity are related to specific uses and to the economics of the process. 

Irish moss extract, or carrageenin, is a negatively charged polymer which reacts with positively charged protein molecules, imparting rapid increase in mix viscosity. There are many types used for ice cream, depending on the final use. It is generally used in conjunction with CMC or locust bean to prevent mix separation. Levels between 0.02 and 0.10% are recommended. 

Certain mixtures of polymers have been shown to form complexes which exhibit substantially higher than expected solution viscosity under low shear conditions. Xanthan gum blends with guar gum (38, 39), sodium poly(styrene sulfonate) (40), polyacrylamide (41), sulfonated guar gum (38), sodium poly(vinylsulfonate) (40), hydrolyzed sodium poly(styrene sulfonate-co-maleic anhydride) (38), and poly(ethylene oxide) (41) and blends of xanthan gum and locust bean gum have exhibited substantially higher than expected solution viscosity (42, 43). 

Commercial bakeries and doughnut shops normally use a system that extrudes a batter from a reservoir directly into the deep fat fryer (Figure 5). In such a system the rheology of the batter is vitally important. The batter must flow and spread as needed. The major influence on the batter viscosity is the water content, which is around 70% of the flour or around 40% of the dry mix. Various gums are sometimes added to the dry mix to bind water, reduce fat absorption, and control the viscosity. Examples of these gums are guar gum, locust bean gum and carboxymethyl cellulose. 

Viscosity (as a percentage of that of locust-bean gum) D-Mannose to D-galactose ratio of the 64.3 29.5 5.0... 

In addition to their role in primary stabilization related to viscosity increase, some hydrocolloids (particularly carrageenan) are traditionally used as secondary stabilizers. Many of the primary stabilizing hydrocolloids, including locust bean gum and carboxy methyl cellulose induce precipitation of the milk proteins in the mix. This phenomenon in ice cream mix is known as wheying-off, and may be due to direct protein-polysaccharide binding and/or protein-polysaccharide incompatibility in the water phase40. The latter phenomenon may be due to decreased solvent quality due to the competition between protein and polysaccharide for solubilisation. 

---