Structural aspect of gelation in schizophyllan/sorbitol aqueous solution

Abstract

Although schizophyllan undergoes no gelation by itself in its aqueous solution, the addition of sorbitol results in the formation of transparent gel at lower temperatures. The mechanism of the gel formation was discussed from the structural analysis of schizophyllan in the aqueous solution with and without sorbitol, based on the results of small-angle X-ray scattering. Here sorbitol was found to disentangle a part of triple-stranded helices and bridge the disentangled parts which serve as a crosslinking domain.