Gellan gum is a polysaccharide colloid gel obtained by biological fermentation, which has the advantages of low dosage, high transparency, strong aroma release ability, acid resistance and alkali resistance. Gellan gum can be used in a wide variety of foods. In the food industry, gellan gum is not only used as a gelling agent, but more importantly, it provides excellent texture and mouthfeel, and the gellan gum is a kind of brittle gum, which is very sensitive to shear force, It melts in your mouth when you eat it. Gellan gum has good flavor release properties and is stable over a wide pH range. It can be used to improve food texture, physical stability of liquid nutritional products, water holding capacity in food cooking and storage. Gellan gum has good compatibility with other food gums to improve its stability or change its organizational structure. In addition, it can modify starch for optimal textural characteristics and stability.

Due to its superior gel properties, gellan gum has wide application prospects in the fields of food, pharmacy, and chemical industry, and has been gradually replaced by agar and carrageenan. In the food industry, gellan gum is mainly used as thickening agent, stabilizer, coagulant, suspending agent and film-forming agent, etc. It can be used in beverages, bread, dairy products, meat products, noodles, cakes, biscuits, shortening, instant In coffee, fish products, ice cream, ice cream and other foods, it can be used as a gelling agent for the production of low-solids jams and jellies, as well as in gummies, sweets and pet cans. For example, when gellan gum is applied to noodle products such as Chinese noodles, soba noodles and cut noodles, it can enhance the hardness, elasticity and viscosity of noodles in noodle products. Gellan gum is used as a stabilizer (better when combined with other stabilizers). It can be used in ice cream to improve its shape retention; gellan gum is added to cakes such as cakes and cheese cakes, and has the effects of moisturizing, freshness and shape retention. In addition, according to the application research, the beverage with gellan gum as the main agent of the suspending agent not only has an ideal suspension effect, but also has strong acid resistance and exhibits good stability during the storage process of the beverage.

1. For Chinese noodles, soba noodles, cut noodles

When gellan gum is applied to Chinese noodles, shepherd's wheat noodles, and cut noodles, it can enhance the hardness, elasticity, viscosity, etc. of noodle products, improve taste, inhibit hot water swelling, reduce broken strips, and reduce soup turbidity. The dosage is 0.1% of wheat flour. -0.3‰ During production, firstly mix gellan gum and wheat flour evenly, and then mix with other raw materials to make noodles.

2. soft pastry

Gellan gum is added to pastries such as cakes and cheesecakes for moisturizing, fresh-keeping and shape-preserving effects. The appearance is not dented during processing. After processing, it has good moisturizing properties, and even if it is refrigerated, it will not cause aging and sanding. The usage amount is generally about 0.1-0.2%.

3. For the production of artificial food

The use of gellan gum to produce artificial foods is significantly better than the use of other food gums, especially the production of artificial fruit pieces. For example, in the production of artificial allspice fruit pieces, the amount of gellan gum used is 0.7%, but if seaweed is used, the amount is 1.0%, and its processing performance is far less than that of gellan gum. Gellan gum can make artificial fruit pieces in sterilization. It does not melt in the process, and maintains its characteristic shape during processing, and gellan gum can be used to make various forms and colorful animal and plant shapes with molds, which is unmatched by other gelling agents.

4. Application in pie filling and pudding

Food products such as pie fillings and puddings have traditionally used starch or a mixture of starch with proteins and phosphates to provide the desired texture for pie fillings and puddings. However, products using starch are unstable in shape and have a general taste. These deficiencies were only slightly ameliorated when modified starch was used instead of normal starch. If gellan gum is used to replace part of the modified starch, the shape of the obtained product is more stable, and the taste is greatly improved.

5.Coatings or toppings for baked goods

There are many varieties of coatings or toppings for baked products, such as icing on cakes or cookies, surface coatings on multi-layer cakes, bagels, buns, etc. Layers, decorative coatings for flowers, leaves, edging, tucking, etc. for wedding birthday cakes, multi-layer cakes, etc., floral coatings for piping, toppings for bagels, honey buns, fritters, soft spots, etc. In the past, agar, gum arabic, locust bean gum, tragacanth gum, guar gum, pectin, seaweed gum and xanthan gum were commonly used for coagulation and stabilization in special pastry gels. If gellan gum is compounded with other stabilizers, the dosage of agar can be significantly reduced (the dosage is 2.0%), and the formability and stability are better than other glues, and the dosage is only 0.05%-0.3%. For example, in vanilla fruit cake, the amount of gellan gum is 0.3%, while the amount of starch and alginate is 3.0% and 1.2%, respectively, and the amount of carrageenan and starch is 0.4% and 1%, in order to obtain a similar texture .

6. Application in dairy products

Gellan gum can be used in dairy products. Gellan gum can be directly hydrated in milk by heating it to 75°C. In acidic dairy products (such as yogurt, fermented sour cream or directly acidified milk gel), add this water The sol acts as a colloid protectant, which can eliminate protein flocculation and improve taste in dairy products. Gellan gum can replace the use of carrageenan, gelatin, algin and pectin in dairy products and can provide a better quality gel and consistency. In terms of dosage, gellan gum is more superior. Gellan gum can be directly hydrated in milk when heated to 75°C. It is used in acidic dairy products such as yoghurt, fermented sour cream or directly acidified milk gel, and colloids such as CMC or guar gum must be added at the same time. Prevent milk protein precipitation.

7. Application in meat products

Excipients are substances that modify and stabilize the physical properties or tissue state of meat products. Excipients traditionally used are starch, agar, edible gelatin, poultry eggs, skimmed milk powder and soy protein. The new excipients include emulsifiers such as milk casein and lecithin, and polysaccharide gums such as carrageenan, gellan gum, xanthan gum, and konjac gum. They can not only improve the shape of meat products, but also because of the inhibition of starch retrogradation and the emulsification and stabilization of fat, the meat products can maintain elasticity and good taste for a long time, without oil separation and dehydration.

8. Application in cookies

Oil is the main raw material for biscuit production, it can make biscuit have a good level, adjust the flavor of the product, and make the product have a good looseness. The oils generally used in biscuit production are mostly saturated fatty acids, such as hydrogenated lard, margarine, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, etc. Excessive intake of this saturated fat is not good for the human body. Gellan gum can be used to reduce the amount of saturated fatty acids. Dissolve 3% gellan gum plus 0.2% sodium citrate in deionized water, heat the mixture to 90°C, and then add the hot gellan gum solution to the dough for making biscuit, which can also improve biscuit level, so that the biscuits have a good looseness effect.

As a polysaccharide, it can also be used as a coating for bread and other pasta that require further processing (eg, frying), which can reduce the absorption of oil by the food and produce low-calorie products. The flavor enhancement of food products coated with polysaccharides can better meet the needs of consumers. It can also be used as a stable thickener in ice cream at very low levels.

9. Application in pet food

Gellan gum is used in canned gel pet food to replace traditional carrageenan-locust bean gum-KCl gel pet food. Gellan Gum can be used with other food gums such as Gellan Gum used with Guar Gum and Xanthan Gum to control syneresis, Compounded with Xanthan Gum and Locust Bean Gum to reduce brittleness, Gellan Gum Gum can replace About half the amount of carrageenan mixture in gel pet food.

In addition to being widely used in food, gellan gum can also be used in other fields. For example, it can be used as eye drops, soft and hard capsules, coating agents and new formulations in medicine; in chemical industry, it can be used as film coating, adhesive, toothpaste, etc.; in agriculture, it can be used as leaf fertilizer, slow-release fertilizer, etc. It can also be used as a substitute for agar to prepare biological medium, especially for medium requiring high clarity, such as the medium for mesophilic microorganisms, and it is also a good medium for plant tissue culture. Studies have found that replacing agar in plant tissue culture medium with gellan gum can achieve better results. Gellan gum is also widely used in other aspects, including as human tissue materials, photosensitive films, room fragrances, encapsulation of heat-sensitive materials (such as enzymes and cells, reversible gels for DNA electrophoresis and separation, etc.) Film, film, fibers, personal care products, etc., can mostly improve the quality of products in this industry and reduce the cost.

Food: Beverages, sweets, jams, jelly, jelly, synthetic food, pet food, sugar coating, frosting, milk products

Pharmaceuticals: eye drops, soft and hard capsules, microcapsules, coating

Cosmetics: personal care products, perfume

Chemicals: film coating , adhesives, toothpaste

Agriculture: slow-release fertilizers 

Others: microorganisms, plant tissue culture medium, photosensitive films, air fresheners