Xanthan gum

Xanthan gum is the world’s thickening, suspension, emulsification, stability in one, the performance of the most superior biological glue. The number of pyruvate groups in the end of the molecular side chain of xanthan gum has a great influence on its properties. Xanthan gum has the general properties of long chain polymers, but it contains more functional groups than ordinary polymers, and will show unique properties under certain conditions. Its conformation in aqueous solution is varied, and it shows different characteristics under different conditions.
1, suspension and emulsification
Xanthan gum has good suspension effect on insoluble solids and oil droplets. Xanthan colloidal molecules can form superbinding ribbon helical copolymers, forming a fragile glue-like network structure, so it can support the form of solid particles, droplets and bubbles, showing strong emulsifying stability and high suspension capacity.
2, good water solubility
Xanthan gum dissolves quickly in water and has good water solubility. Especially in cold water can also be dissolved, can save complicated processing process, easy to use. However, because it has a strong hydrophilicity, if it is directly added to water and stirred insufficiently, the outer layer absorbs water and expands into micelles, which will prevent water from entering the inner layer, thus affecting the play of the role, so it must pay attention to the correct use. Dry xanthan gum powder or salt, sugar and other dry powder auxiliary materials, slowly add to the stirring water feed, make a solution for use.

3. Thickening
   Xanthan gum solution has the characteristics of low concentration and high viscosity (the viscosity of 1% solution is 100 times that of gelatin), and it is an efficient thickener.
   4, false plasticity
   Xanthan glue solution has high viscosity under static or low shear action, and shows a sharp decrease in viscosity under high shear action, but the molecular structure is unchanged. When the shear force is eliminated, the original viscosity is immediately restored. The relationship between shear force and viscosity is completely malleable. Xanthan gum is very prominent in pseudoplasticity, which is very effective in stabilizing suspension and emulsion.
4. Stability to heat
   The viscosity of xanthan gum solution does not change greatly with the change of temperature, the general polysaccharide will change viscosity due to heating, but the viscosity of the xanthan gum solution is almost unchanged between 10-80℃, even if the low concentration of the water solution still shows a stable high viscosity over a wide temperature range. 1% xanthan gum solution (containing 1% potassium chloride) is heated from 25 ° C to 120 ° C. Its viscosity is reduced by only 3%.
5. Stability of acid and base
   Xanthan gum solution is very stable to acid and base, and its viscosity is not affected at PH 5-10, and the viscosity changes slightly at PH less than 4 and greater than 11. In the PH3-11 range, the difference between the maximum and minimum values of viscosity is less than 10%. Xanthan gum can be dissolved in a variety of acid solutions, such as 5% sulfuric acid, 5% nitric acid, 5% acetic acid, 10% hydrochloric acid and 25% phosphoric acid, and these xanthan gum acid solutions are quite stable at room temperature, and the quality will not change for several months. Xanthan gum is also soluble in sodium hydroxide solution and has thickening properties. The resulting solution is stable at room temperature. Xanthan gum can be degraded by strong oxidants, such as perchloric acid and persulfuric acid, and degradation accelerates with increasing temperature.
6. Stability of salt
   Xanthan gum solution can be miscible with many salt solutions (potassium salt, sodium salt, calcium salt, magnesium salt, etc.), and the viscosity is not affected. Under the condition of higher salt concentration, even in saturated salt solution, it still maintains its solubility without precipitation and flocculation, and its viscosity is almost unaffected.
   8, the stability of enzymatic hydrolysis reaction
   The stable double helix structure of xanthan gum makes it highly resistant to oxidation and enzymatic hydrolysis. Many enzymes, such as protease, amylase, cellulase and hemicellulase, cannot degrade xanthan gum.