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Calcium-Independent Gelation of Abelia macrotera Pectin Induced by Sodium Ions and Its Synergistic Interaction with
Jianglin Wang1, Wanting Li1, Shunhong Hu1
1College of Food Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China.
Abstract:
The effects of Na+ and pea protein isolate (PPI) concentrations on the gelation behavior of Abelia macrotera pectin (AMP) were systematically investigated using texture analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). AMP formed stable gels in the presence of Na+ without requiring Ca2+, and gel properties strongly depended on Na+ concentration and a transition from dense to loose microstructures with increasing Na+ concentrations. Optimal gel performance was achieved at Na+ concentrations of 0.15-0.20 mol/L. The AMP-PPI composite gel exhibited the optimal performance at an AMP:PPI ratio of 0.3:7.5 and Na+ concentrations of 0.10-0.15 mol/L, showing enhanced textural properties, water-holding capacity, and network compactness. FTIR results revealed that Na+ induced non-covalent electrostatic and ion-dipole interactions without forming new covalent bonds. These findings provide a theoretical basis for developing sodium-regulated, calcium-free pectin-protein gels.
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