Wheat flour and gum cordia composite system: pasting, rheology and texture studies

Native and acetylated freeze-dried gum cordia (GC) was replaced at 0, 3, 5 and 10% (w/w) of wheat flour, and their pasting and rheological properties were studied. The pasting data indicated a significant (p≤0.05) increase in peak and final viscosities of blends: especially at higher GC concentrations. The shearing profiles signified an increase in shear stress as a function of shear rate confirming a pseudoplastic behavior of the blends (n<1). The consistency coefficient (K) and flow behavior index (n) were estimated using a power law model where higher ‘K’ values strengthened the pasting data. The activation energies (Ea) calculated by Arrhenius equation were observed between 5.7-7.5 and 5.9-8.4 kJ/mol for native and acetylated gels, respectively. The highest hardness was observed for 10% acetylated GC gel while the same concentration of native GC depicted opposite trend.