Isolation and characterization of the rhealogical properties of the gum produced by Alcalgines viscolactis as grown in whey substrate

The objectives of this study were to isolate the gum produced by Alcaligenes viscolactis grown in whey and to characterize the rheological properties of the gum as they pertain to food systems. A 5% inoculum of A. viscolactis was grown in whey for 120 hours at 21° C. The gum was harvested by acid precipi-tation followed by washing with water and acetone and air-drying. The effects of gum concentration, salt concentration, pH, heating treatment, and temperature of measurement on the viscosity of aqueous solutions of the gum were studied. Gum concentration was found to have the largest significant effect on viscosity followed by temperature of measurement, heating treatment, and salt. The effect of pH was not significant. Using the analysis of variance data, a regression polynomial was derived. Correlation between predicted and observed viscosities was 0.91.