Results that are here presented concern the preliminary study that have been performed to check the potential use of a microbial polysaccharide, scleroglucan, for the production of edible films. The rheological properties of a commercial scleroglucan by Sclerotium rolfsii, either in water or water/glycerol solutions at concentrations ranging from 0.01 g/dl to 1 g/dl, were determined. It has been verified that mixing and temperature influence the rate at which the viscosity of scleroglucan solution develops. Starting from the viscous properties of solutions in the Newtonian domain, the macromolecular parameters have been calculated according to the Huggins' model. Glycerol seems to play both a plasticizer both a structuring role, depending on its concentration ratio with respect to scleroglucan. Dried films have been casted from solutions. They tend to be somewhat brittle, and improve their properties when plasticized by glycerol.
展开▼
