Curdlan: Properties and Application to Foods

Abstract

Gel formation of curdlan at lOO-130°C and behaviors of curdlan gels under frozen state were investigated by measuring gel strength and syneresis. Even when aqueous suspensions of curdlan were heated to 100°C or higher, they formed a gel, and gel strength increased with temperature. Curdlan gel was also stable against freezing and thawing. The syneresis of a 4% curdlan gel after freezing and thawing was reduced from 20.6% to about 2.1% by addition of 5% waxy corn starch and to 8.9% by addition of 20% sucrose. Suggested by these findings, new applications to foods have been developed, especially those subject to retorting and/or freezing.

Nonstarch Hydrocolloids

“…At 60°C, crosslinking within the gel network is structured with hydrogen bonding, whereas hydrophobic bonding is responsible for crosslinking when heated to 80°C (Konno et al, 1994) . Although reportedly being used in Japan as an ingredient in various types of processed foods, including processed meats (Harada, Terasaki, & Harada, 1993 ;Miwa, Nakao, & Nara, 1994 ;Nakao et al, 1991) , it has not found wide use in other areas of the world. Funami, Yotsuzuka, Yada, and Nakao (1998 b) found that nonfat pork sausages containing curdlan had textural properties similar to those of a control 20% fat control.…”

“…This is also true with curdlan. The addition of starch to curdlan will help reduce syneresis (Nakao et al, 1991) .…”

Comparison of the structure and the transport properties of low-set and high-set curdlan hydrogels

“…Curdlan gels are already used as texture agents in the food industry [9,10] as these colorless, tasteless, odourless and non-digestible biomaterials possess several appropriate properties of a good food additive [1,11,12]. In addition, the viscoelasticity of these gels makes them resistant to freezing [12]. Curdlan is an FDA approved material [13] and its potential as a controlled drug-delivery gel has already been reported [14,15].…”

“…In this work, we have characterized different types of curdlan hydrogels that have a high potential of application in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Curdlan gels are already used as texture agents in the food industry [9,10] as these colorless, tasteless, odourless and non-digestible biomaterials possess several appropriate properties of a good food additive [1,11,12]. In addition, the viscoelasticity of these gels makes them resistant to freezing [12].…”

Production of the polysaccharide curdlan by anAgrobacteriumstrain grown on a plant biomass hydrolysate

“…Although insoluble in water or acidic solutions, curdlan readily dissolves in dilute alkali solutions (Harada et al 1968). This nontoxic carbohydrate polymer has applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries (Nakao et al 1991;Spicer et al 1999;Zhan et al 2012). Curdlan synthesis occurs during the poststationary phase of a nitrogen-limited batch or continuous culture containing excess carbon source (Phillips and Lawford 1983b;Lawford and Rousseau 1992;Lee 2002).…”