Enhanced gelation properties of purified gellan gum

Gellan gum is a hydrogel-forming polysaccharide when combined with monovalent or divalent cations such as sodium, magnesium, potassium or calcium. Commercially, gellan gums are sold with trace amounts of these cations, which have been proven to affect the gelation and mechanical properties of the resultant hydrogels. A new method based on impedance analysis for determining the gel transition temperature of purified and un-purified gellan gum is presented. The sodium salt form of gellan gum is shown to have lower dissolution and gel transition temperatures.