Relaxation Processes of Food Hydrocolloids in Diluted, Semidilute, and Concentrated Solutions: NMR and Hydrodynamic Approach

The paper presents the results of relaxation studies for aqueous solutions of guar gum (GG) and xanthan gum (XG) in diluted, semidilute, and concentrated ranges over a wide temperature range (20-90 °C). Relaxation studies were performed using NMR and DLS methods. Due to variations in the biopolymer-biopolymer interactions, XG chains formed a more complex structure in solution than GG chains did. Consequently, differences in T2 relaxation times were observed in the diluted and semidilute regions. Comparing the autocorrelation functions of XG and GG solutions in the semidilute region revealed differences in their relaxation behaviour.