3.3.2. Mechanical properties
The pure agar films showed close values of tensile strength, TS (p > 0.05; ∼50–65 MPa; Fig. 5A) while the Young’s modulus, YM, was higher for the film made with AA (p < 0.05; ∼4.45 GPa against ∼3.34 GPa for NA;not shown).The TS of the pure LBG film was similar to those of the pure agars (p > 0.05; Fig. 5A) although the LBG film was clearly stiffer(p < 0.05; i.e. higher YM, ∼7.73 GPa;not shown). The close mechanical strengths of the pure agar films could be somehow surprising considering the weaker junction zones of NA helices formed upon gelation(Sousa etal.,2013). However, other components such as unbound water could add some stability to the NA networks as suggested by Martins et al.(2012) for -carrageenan/LBG films,leading to agar films with similar mechanical strength. Nonetheless,this hypothesis would need further confirmation.