Rheological and Thermal Characterization of Kırkağaç Melon Seed Beverage Puddings Structured with Hydrocolloids

Seeds from Kırkağaç melons (Cucumis melo L.), marketed locally as Kırkağaç Kavunu, are an underused co-product. This study evaluated whether a beverage obtained from these seeds could be structured into a plant-based pudding using xanthan gum, locust bean gum (LBG), κ-carrageenan or guar gum at 0.5 and 1.0% (w/w), without added starch. Starch-structured melon seed beverage and cow-milk puddings served as controls, and the formulations were characterized by rheology, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. Gum identity, concentration and their interaction significantly affected every rheological endpoint (interaction p ≤ 0.031), so equal mass fractions of different gums were not interchangeable structuring doses. Doubling the LBG concentration increased the loss modulus without increasing the storage modulus, reversing the balance between them, whereas doubling xanthan or guar strengthened their networks approximately threefold and ninefold, respectively. At 1 rad s^-1 the storage modulus ranged from 3.68 ± 0.39 Pa for 0.5% guar to 475.40 ± 116.53 Pa for 1.0% κ-carrageenan, and four formulations showed a crossover between the storage (G') and loss (G″) moduli within the measured frequency window. DSC resolved a reproducible transition at 68.2 ± 3.3 °C in the 0.5% κ-carrageenan pudding. Under the conditions tested, 0.5% κ-carrageenan provided the most balanced rheological response among the formulations examined, whereas the 1.0% gel was progressively expelled from the measuring gap under shear.