Agar/LBG blends with various mass ratios(100/0,75/25,50/50,25/75, 0/100) were prepared by mixing the appropriate amounts of each polysaccharide starting solution(prepared as described above) to obtain a final polymer concentration of 1 wt%.Briefly,LBG solution was stirred at room temperature for 2 h and heated up to 70 ◦C prior to mixing with each agar starting solution at the desired mass ratio.Mixing was carried out at 70 ◦C after which the temperature was increased to 90 ◦C and the mixture was left at this temperature for 1 h under gentle stirring.Samples were degassed to remove air bubbles and subsequently used for film formation and rheological studies.For comparison purposes,the pure polysaccharide solutions(i.e. 100/0and0/100agar/LBG) were submitted to the same thermal treatment as the blends.