Exposure to Air Accelerates the Gelation of Gelatin

In the current study, the effect of air exposure to the gelatin solution on improvement of gel structure was investigated in terms of the steady and dynamic shear rheological properties. Prepared gelation solution (5% w/v) was covered to prevent air incorporation and it was subjected to 5 h gelatin and rheological analyses were carried out for the comparison of non-covered ones. It was observed that the preventing of air into the gelatin solution affected the rheological parameters. Apparent viscosity and complex viscosity values of samples increased during gelation and these values were measured to be tremendously high (1.894 and 8.346 Pa s, respectively) in non-covered gelatin solution while they were 0.474 and 1.611 Pa s in covered samples after 5 h gelation, respectively. Similarly, storage modulus (G′) of samples increased with the increase in gelation time and it was recorded to be 52.203 Pa in gelatin solution exposed to air while it was 9.848 Pa in gelatin solution covered to prevent air incorporation. These results showed importance of air in gelatin solution to the food industry using gelatin in food formulation for the structure of processed foods.