Molecular origin for rheological characteristics of native gellan gum

The ¹H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum showed that the l-rhamnosyl residues of native gellan gum were coinvolved in both a small number of ⁴C₁-pyranose conformations and a large number of ¹C₄-pyranose conformations, whereas for deacylated polymer, almost of the residues were involved in ⁴C₁-pyranose conformation. The flow curves of native gellan gum showed plastic behavior above 0.2%. The elastic modulus stayed at a constant value with increase in temperature up to 40 °C, then decreased rapidly. The elastic modulus increased with addition of CaCl₂ (6.8 mM) and stayed constant value with increase in temperature up to 65 °C, then decreased rapidly. The stronger elastic modulus was observed in deacylated gellan gum with addition of CaCl₂. The elastic modulus of native gellan gum showed larger value than that in aqueous solution in the presence of urea (4.0 M). Intra- and intermolecular associations of native gellan gum molecules in the presence of Ca⁺² were proposed.