LBG was slowly dispersed in distilled water under vigorous stirring to preparea solution with concentration ∼1.2 wt%.Sodium azide (5ppm)was used to avoid bacterial growth.The dispersion
was left under moderate stirring for 1h,at room temperature,before being heated at 80◦C for 30 min.After cooling,the solution was centrifuged at 21,000×g, for 1h at 25 ◦C, to remove the insoluble matter and the supernatant was stored for at least 12h before use. Each time, the final concentration of the LBG starting solution (1 wt%) was checked by determination of total dry weight solids at 105 ◦C.