Influence of Sodium Chloride on the Freeze-Thaw Stability of Corn Starch Gels

Abstract:

This study investigated the influence of NaCl on the freeze-thaw stability of corn starch gels. Syneresis rate，microscopic structure，texture，thermal property and zeta potential of corn starch gel with different concentrations of NaCl were measured using centrifugation，scanning electron microscopy(SEM)，texture analyzer and differential scanning calorimetry，respectively. The presence of NaCl reduced the syneresis rate and the destruction of gel structure. Hardness and retrogradation of corn starch gels were negatively correlated to the concentration of NaCl. The zeta potential of the starch gels also decreased with the increasing NaCl concentrations because of the adsorption of Na+. This study revealed that NaCl effectively preserves the quality of freeze-thawed corn starch gels.