Effects of Poly(Galacturonic Acid)on the Properties and Structure of Konjac Glucomannan Aerogel

A novel konjac glucomannan(KGM)/poly(galacturonic acid)(PGuA)mixed aerogel(KGM/PGuA)was prepared via a vacuum freeze-drying method,and its interaction mechanism was studied.The rheology results showed that KGM/PGuA mixed gels are typical non-Newtonian pseudoplastic fluids,and PGuA increased the viscosity of the composite aerogel and strengthened the molecular entanglement between KGM and PGuA molecules.The structures of KGM/PGuA aerogels were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR),X-ray diffraction(XRD)and scanning electron microscopy(SEM).The results show that the intermolecular interactions were mainly hydrogen bonding.Dense and uniform porous structures were found in the aerogel microstructures.All these findings indicate that PGuA has the effect of enhancing the KGM gel structure,and KGM/PGuA gels with porous structures might be potential materials for use in food and biomedical areas for loading active materials.