Abstract:

The effects of erythritol, xylitol and lactitol on gellan gel texture were investigated by using a texture analyzer.
Both gellan gel strength and hardness were reduced more markedly by the addition of three alditols in higher amounts. The
impact of the alditols was observed in the decreasing order: lactitol > xylitol > erythritol. However, the brittleness of gellan
gel was not significantly affected by these alditols. The effect of 15 g/100 mL mixed alditols on the texture of gellan gel was
weaker than that of individual alditol at the same concentration, indicating no synergistic interaction between the individual
alditols. Lactitol influenced the texture of gellan gel when the gelation cation was K+ (40 － 400 mmol/L). However, lactitol nearly
had no effect on the texture of gellan gel at lower Ca2+ levels (2 － 10 mmol/L) rather than higher Ca2+ levels (10 － 50 mmol/L).

Key words: gellan, alditol, gel strength, hardness, brittleness