Conference paper

Publication year: 2019

Pages: 201-209

Journal: Food Hydrocolloids

Volume number: 86

ISSN: 0268-005X

eISSN: 1873-7137

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.2018.07.005

Conference: 19th Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry Conference

Publisher: Elsevier

Abstract: 
Microcapsules, microspheres and microbeads are widely used in the food industry, pharmacy, agriculture, cosmetics, construction, textile industry and printing to protect immobilized substances against harsh conditions or to mask bad taste, as well as to enable and control the release of substances e.g. active pharmaceutical ingredients. The knowledge of the mechanical properties is a key parameter in development, application and control of processing. The paper focuses on the experimental determination of the stiffness of alginate beads (about 400 mu m) in terms of bulk compressional behaviour by using a commercial available multisample analytical centrifuge (LUMiSizer). The basic principle consists in applying an increasing centrifugal force on an alginate bead column in a measuring cell and to record the height of the bead column (volume) in dependence on the applied force during centrifugation. The packing/compression of beads is quantified by the decreased column volume in relation to the applied force. It was shown that beads made of alginate of high alpha-L-guluronic acid (G) content are more stable compared to alginate types of high beta-D-mannuronic acid (M) content. In contrast, gelling cations and their concentrations have less influence on the mechanical behaviour. The described ensemble method is sensitive, reproducible, easy to perform and, due to the simultaneous analysis of up to 12 samples, time saving. The new method is especially suitable for quality control during microsphere production.

Harvard Citation style: Schuldt, U., Woehlecke, H. and Lerche, D. (2019) Characterization of mechanical parameters of microbeads by means of analytical centrifugation, Food Hydrocolloids, 86, pp. 201-209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.2018.07.005

APA Citation style: Schuldt, U., Woehlecke, H., & Lerche, D. (2019). Characterization of mechanical parameters of microbeads by means of analytical centrifugation. Food Hydrocolloids. 86, 201-209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.2018.07.005