Konjac Glucomannan

Partial deacetylation of konjac glucomannan (KGM) was conducted to customize its compatibility with κ-carrageenan. Upon increasing acetyl substitution from 0% to 74%, viscosity decreased for mixed sols while gels prepared from these sols became harder, more elastic, and syneresis-resistant. Intermediate degrees of deacetylation (35-57%) exhibited maximum hardness and springiness, likely due to increased hydrogen bonding and junction zones between KGM and κ-carrageenan facilitated by exposure of hydroxyl groups, without detriment to water-holding capacity. Thus, tuning deacetylation provides an easy, clean-label approach to high-strength, stable mixed gels for foods like jelly, ham or reduced-fat foods.

Fig. 1 Deacetylation toughened Konjac Glucomannan κ-carrageenan gels. (Hu Y.; et al. 2019)

Zhang Q et al. developed and optimized plant-based pork rinds with a combination of soy protein isolate (SPI), soybean oil, sweet-potato starch (SPS) and konjac glucomannan (KGM). Emulsions with 0-50% SPS and 0-0.8% KGM were steamed, vacuum-packed, boiled and retrograded. Analyses of texture, colour, rheology and SEM showed that pork rinds made from 40% SPS and 0.4% KGM closely resembled real pork rinds in texture, appearance and mouthfeel, providing a slaughter-free, environmentally-friendly snack option.

Fig. 2 Gelling mechanism (A) and internal layout (B) of the plant-based pork rinds containing different SPS and Konjac Glucomannan concentrations. (Zhang Q.; et al. 2022)