ISOTHERMAL PREPARATION OF HEAT-RESISTANT GELLAN GELS WITH REDUCED SYNERESIS
A gel comprising a deacylated gellan gum, an effective amount of a sequestrant, an effective amount of a syneresis control agent, and a gelation inducer is described. Also methods for making the gel are disclosed including a method for forming heat-resistant gels comprising mixing deacylated gellan gum and xyloglucan; hydrating the blend; resting the hydrated blend until a gel forms. The gels can be used in a variety of applications such as air freshener gels.
1 . A gel comprising
a deacylated gellan gum,
an effective amount of a sequestrant,
an effective amount of a syneresis control agent, and
a gelation inducer.
2 . The gel of claim 1 , wherein the gelation inducer comprises an acidifier.
3 . The gel of claim 1 , wherein the sequestrant is sodium citrate, EDTA, sodium hexametaphosphate, or mixtures thereof.
4 . The gel of claim 1 , wherein the sequestrant is sodium citrate.
5 . The gel of claim 1 , wherein the syneresis control agent is xyloglucan.
6 . The gel of claim 5 , wherein the xyloglucan is tamarind seed xyloglucan (TSX).
7 . The gel of claim 2 , wherein the acidifier is glucono-δ-lactone (GDL).
8 . The gel of claim 1 , wherein the gelation inducer comprises calcium lactate.
9 . The gel of claim 1 , wherein the gelation inducer comprises GDL and an acid soluble calcium salt.
10 . The gel of claim 1 , wherein the deacylated gellan gum is about 0.2 to about 0.5 wt % of the gel.
11 . The gel of claim 6 , wherein the TSX is about 1 to about 1.5 wt % of the gel.
12 . The gel of claim 7 , wherein the GDL is about 0.5 wt % of the gel.
13 . The gel of claim 4 , wherein the sodium citrate is about 0.02 wt % of the gel.
14 . The gel of claim 1 , wherein the weight ratio of syneresis control agent to deacylated gellan gum is about 3:1.
15 . The gel of claim 1 , wherein the amount of syneresis control agent is effective to keep an amount of syneresis of the gel below about 5%.
16 . The gel of claim 1 further comprising fragrance.
17 . The gel of claim 1 , wherein the gel comprises 0.45% deacylated gellan gum, 1.35% syneresis control agent, 0.5% acidifier, and 0.02% sequestrant.
18 . The gel of claim 1 , wherein the gel comprises 0.5% deacylated gellan gum, 1.5% syneresis control agent, 0.5% acidifier, and 0.02% sequestrant.
19 . The gel of claim 1 , wherein the gel comprises 0.2% deacylated gellan gum, 1.0% syneresis control agent, 0.5% acidifier, 0.03% acid soluble calcium salt, and 0.02% sequestrant.
20 . A method of preparing a heat-resistant gel comprising
(a) blending a deacylated gellan gum, an effective amount of a sequestrant, an effective amount of a syneresis control agent, and a gelation inducer comprising an acidifier to form a blend;
(b) hydrating the blend with an amount of water; and
(c) resting the hydrated blend until a gel forms,
wherein the blending, hydrating and resting are performed essentially isothermally at ambient conditions.
21 . The method of claim 20 , wherein the syneresis control agent is tamarind seed xyloglucan (TSX).
22 . The method of claim 20 , wherein the acidifier is glucono-δ-lactone (GDL).
23 . A gel prepared by the method of claim 20 .
24 . An air freshener product comprising the gel of claim 16 .
25 . A process for preparing a gel comprising the steps of:
isothermally hydrating deacylated gellan at ambient temperature;
mixing the hydrated deacylated gellan gum and a tamarind seed xyloglucan;
gelling the mix by addition of gelation inducer.
26 . The process of claim 25 wherein the gelation inducer comprises an acidifier.
27 . The process of claim 25 wherein the isothermal hydration comprises adding an effective amount of a sequestrant and water to the deacylated gellan.