Effects of concentrations, temperature, pH and co-solutes on the rheological properties of mucilage from Dioscorea opposita Thunb. and its antioxidant activity.

The mucilage from Dioscorea opposita (DOM) dispersions presented shear-thinning behaviour that well fitted to the Power Law model. The effects of different concentrations (2%-10% w/v), temperatures (25-80 °C), pH (3.0-9.0), freeze-thaw conditions (thawed at 25 °C and 4 °C), co-salts (KCl and CaCl) and co-sugars (sucrose, fructose and mannose) on the rheological properties were investigated. Generally, higher concentrations, neutral pH, Ca and sugars increased the viscosity of DOM, while increasing temperature (25-65 °C) had opposite effects. The results suggested that cross-linked networks exist in DOM, and viscosity changes may be related to the ionisation of carboxyl groups, structural changes and enhancement/reduction of molecular interactions. Particularly, Ca could interact with uronic acids of two or more polysaccharide molecules, modify the network-structure through cross-linking with carboxyl groups, and enhance the stronger carboxylate-cation-carboxylate interactions. Therefore, DOM is suitable for food applications as thickening or gelling agents in aqueous solutions.