Composition and physicochemical extracted from whole seeds by acid properties of locust bean gum or water dehulling pre-treatment

The purpose of this study was to extract locust bean gum (LBG) from whole seeds by two different dellulling pre-treatments. The first process consisted in separating the enclosperm (gum) from the hull and the germ after seeds' pre-treatment with boiling water. The second one used acidic pre-treatment. Then the composition and the physicochemical characteristics of the isolated gum were studied in order to evaluate the effect of extraction process. Comparisons to commercial samples and temperature influence on solubility and rheological properties are included. The yield and quality of Locust bean gum from whole seeds depended on the separation method used. The separation of the seed components by boiling water pre-treatinent furnished a higher yield of yellowish endosperm (51-61 % w/w), whereas acid dehulling pretreatment gave an off-white gum yield (37-48% w/w). However, the mannose and galactose content, the Solubility, the Molecular size and the dynamic viscosity, were higher for LBG from acid dehulling pre-treatment. In addition, a considerable influence of solubilization temperature on macromolectilar characteristics and on viscosity properties was noticed. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.