gum
these polysaccharides have the ability to thicken and/or gel aqueous solutions as a result of both hydrogen bonding between polymer chains and intermolecular friction when subjected to shear. Gums dissolve in water through the formation of solvent–polymer hydrogen bonds; in solution, polymer molecules may arrange themselves into an ordered structure, called a micelle that is stabilized or fortified by intermolecular hydrogen bonds (Fig. 3.1 ). The micelle traps and immobilizes water and, depending on the extent of the intermolecular association, the water is either thickened, as measured
by a parameter called viscosity, or converted into a gel that possesses both liquidand solid-like characteristics or viscoelasticity.