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The Consistency Factor and the Viscosity Exponent of Soybean-Protein-Isolate/Wheat-Gluten/Corn-Starch Blends by Using
Wei Zhang1, Donglin Zhao1, Ziyan Dong1
1Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Agro-Products Processing, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 100193, China.
Abstract:
Blends with different proportions of protein or starch show different rheological behaviors, which may be related to the fibrous structure formation of extruded textured plant proteins. The consistency factor K and the viscosity exponent n of soybean-protein-isolate (SPI)/wheat-gluten (WG)/corn-starch (CS) blends were investigated through capillary rheometry. All blends exhibited shear-thinning behavior at 80 °C and 50% moisture. The CS content in SPI/CS blends or WG content in SPI/WG blends showed a positive relation to the viscosity exponent n and a negative relation to the consistency factor K. However, there was no correlation between the CS content in WG/CS blends and n or K. The coefficient of determination of the linear relationship between K and mass fraction in SPI/CS, SPI/WG/CS, SPI/WG and WG/CS decreased from 0.872 to 0.073. SPI was more likely to form a non-interactive structure, while wheat-gluten was more likely to form a highly interactive structure. It turned out that the materials with globular morphology, such as soybean-protein-isolate and corn-starch, are likely to form a non-interactive structure.
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