Novel viscoelastic gelling agent with unique physico-chemical properties

• Published in: Food chemistry 2021-05, Vol.344, p.128715, Article 128715
• Main Authors: Chelikani, Venkata, Bhardwaj, Piyush, Kumar, Lokesh, On, Stephen L.W., Mohan, Maneesha S., Olivero, Avitta, Thake, Loane, Ramadhani, Sintia, Wescombe, Philip A., Olejar, Kenneth J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents - chemistry; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Antimicrobial activity; Cattle; Chemical Phenomena; Citric Acid - chemistry; Elasticity; Food Microbiology; Food Storage; Gel characterisation; Gelatin - chemistry; Gelatine replacement; Gels; Guanosine Monophosphate - chemistry; Novel gelling agent; Red Meat - microbiology; Rheology; Temperature; Viscosity
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.128715

•A novel gelling agent developed from non-animal sources.•Unique physico-chemical properties suitable to be widely applied.•Antimicrobial properties towards a wide range of microbes.•Extended shelf-life for meat products when applied as a coating material. A novel innovative viscoelastic gelling agent (novel gel, NG) has been developed by combining citric acid (CA) and disodium 5-guanylate (DG). NG has the potential to replace other gelling agents such as gelatine, which has been commonly used in foods, dietary supplements, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products including ointments and sprays. NG has unique physico-chemical properties, including a wide range of concentration-dependent, temperature-sensitive gel strengths. Based on the rheological measurement results, NG depicted similar shear thinning behaviour to gelatine, within shear rates ranging from 25.8 to 129 (s−1). NG also significantly increased the shelf-life (by 21 days) of minced beef, as well as inhibited the growth of major spoilage pathogens, such as E. coli, S. aureus, Salmonella sp., Listeria sp., yeast and moulds, making it an ideal candidate for gelatine replacement.