Carrageenan has excellent properties such as gelling, thickening, emulsifying, film forming and stable dispersion, but the use of monomer carrageenan often has the defects of gel brittleness, small elasticity, easy to dehydrate and shrink. However, these defects can be solved by synergism with other hydrocolloids, so the research of synergistic effect of carrageenan is very important for the application of carrageenan in food. Carrageenan can be used with LBG, konjac gum, gellan gum and other hydrocolloids.

Carrageenan VS LBG

K-type carrageenan monomers can form strong, brittle gel, but its shrinkage and dehydrophilicity can be detrimental in many applications. But when combined with other gum, it can change the organization structure, which has lots of practical value. When adding LBG into K-type carrageenan, it caused strong bond interaction between carrageenan’s double helix structure and LBG’s no side chain area to make the gel have higher strength, which not only improves the elasticity and rigidity of the system, but also increases the cohesion with the increase of the concentration of LBG.

When the ratio of the two kinds of gum reaches 1:1, the gel breaking strength can be quite high, resulting in quite good taste. From the sensory point of view, LBG can make κ-type carrageenan’s gel decrease its brittleness and increase its elasticity, making it close to the structure of gelatin gel. However, if the proportion of locust bean gum was too high, the gel became thicker and thicker.

Carrageenan VS Konjac gumThe synergistic effect of k-type carrageenan and konjac gum can enhance the strength and elasticity of gel, and reduce the rate of water evolution. The results show that there is a strong synergistic gelation between the two gums, and the gel formed by the combination has strong toughness. As the proportion of konjac gum increased, the toughness of the gel increased, and the gel brittleness increased with the increase of carrageenan ratio. When m (konjac gum):m (carrageenan) =6:4, the gel strength is the highest. Compared with the single carrageenan gel, the water retention of the compound gel increased significantly, and the gel structure changed obviously. The gel formed by carrageenan alone, the molecular sieve of the carrageenan was scattered and the gel network structure was loose. In the synergistic gel system, the micelles are tightly linked and the gel network structure is compact.

Carrageenan VS Gellan gum

L-type carrageenan mixed with gellan gum, when the gellan gum concentration decreased, the modulus of the mixed gel decreased. When the ratio of gellan gum is less than 50% of the total, the gel lacks hardness and brittleness, but is more elastic. At the same time, carrageenan can also reduce the dehydration shrinkage of gellan gum.

Carrageenan VS Pectin

The LMA pectin has no significant effect on the formation of κ-type carrageenan, but it has good water retention. Therefore, the concentration of κ-type carrageenan can be reduced and the gel can be soft and delicious. But if a small amount of LBG is added, the cohesion of the gel can be increased. Another advantage of using LMA pectin is that it makes gel have good flavor release. However, the downside of pectin is that it can make the gelatin cloudy. That is, a sweet gelatin made from LMA pectin is not as transparent as a gelatin made from carrageenan alone.