Viscosity profiles on cooling from 90 C at constant shear rates
between 50 and 1000 s1 and 3 C/min are shown in Fig. 1 in order
to investigate the effect of the applied shear on the production of LA
gellan gum fluid gels. The obtained data across all shear rates shows
that as the temperature of the system is lowered, a sharp increase
in viscosity occurs at ~42 C. This viscosity increase has been
ascribed (Norton, Jarvis, & Foster, 1999) to the formation of small
gel nuclei (initiation of ordering), which begins close to the gelation
temperature. On continued cooling, the initially formed gel nuclei
continue to grow until an equilibrium particle size, as determined
by the shear regime, is reached. It is at this point that a fluid gel has
been formed.
Th