Gelation and gel properties of polysaccharides gellan gum and tamarind xyloglucan

Polysaccharide is used widely in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. The main use is to give appropriate texture to the products. Thus the polysaccharides used in such way are called texture modifier. Here two important texture modifiers, gellan and tamarind xyloglucan are introduced. The former one is a microbial polysaccharide with gelling ability. Gelling ability makes gellan valuable since only a few polysaccharides can form a gel. Most polysaccharides do not form a gel by themselves; however, some can form a gel under appropriate conditions. The latter one is a plant polysaccharide which forms a gel under appropriate conditions. Gelation and gel properties of gellan and tamarind xyloglucan are described.