konjac gum

Details:

Konjac Glucomannan (KGM) is natural dietary fiber with heaviest molecular weight and highest viscosity, and has an extremely high viscosity.KGM has very high water retaining capacity, which is able to bind hydro molecules as 200 times its original volume and turn it into a viscous liquid.Because of its special β-1-4 linked structure of D-glucose and D-mannose, KGM is not affected by human digestive enzymes and contributes no calories.

KGM is widely used as gelling agent, thickener, stabilizer, emulsifier and film former in food, beverage, health care and chemical industries.

1. Great water-binding capability
KGM can be readily dissolved in cold and hot water, and it is able to bind water as much as 100-200 times. Its water solution is a pseudo-plastic liquid, characterized by shear thinning. One particle of konjac flour consists of extremely long thread-like macromolecules tangled together. When it comes in contact with water, water molecules enter and are absorbed into the chain, gradually causing the particle to swell to about 200 times as its original volume, and turning the konjac flour into viscous liquid.

2. Thickener
KGM’s high thickening property is determined by its highest molecular weight among any dietary fiber known to science, Great water-binding capability and uncharged-particle characteristic. Glucomannan solution with a concentration of 1% can have viscosity as high as 5000-40000mpa.s, which makes it a natural thickener with the highest viscosity than any other natural thickening agents. Konjac flour has the capacity that can make the products keep solid and moisturize structure after being heated, which is not available in any other ordinary thickeners.

3. Stability
Compared with other thickeners like xanthan gum, guar gum or red locust bean gum, konjac gum is non-ionic type, thus can hardly be affected by the salt in the system. At ambient temperature, it can still keep stable when the PH value is lower than 3.5. Using konjac gum to replace red locust bean gum in dairy products as ice cream and milk products can restrict the growth of ice crystal to stabilize the product quality.

4. Gelling capacity 
As a gelling agent, KGM is quite unique for its ability to form thermo-reversible and thermo- irreversible gels under different conditions. By putting a small amount of alkali into 2%-3% konjac solution, heating to 85℃ in water bath and keeping it still for two hours, an elastic, solid and irreversible gum will be formed. By utilizing its thermo-irreversible characteristic, it may be used to make a variety of foods, such as konjac cake, noodles, bionic food and vegetarian food, etc.

5. Film Former
KGM is a powerful film former - both alone and in combinations with other gums such as K-Carrageenan.

6. Synergistic Effect with Other Hydrophilic Gums
There is an obvious synergistic effect between KGM and K-Carrageenan. By heating and cooling the mixture of the two, a gum with different fragility and elasticity can be formulated. When both of them are mixed at the ratio of 4:6 or 4.5:5.5, the gum strength reaches the maximum value. Konjac gum also has good synergistic effect with xanthan gum, guar gum, red locust bean gum, gellan gum and more.