A comparative study on the compositions of crude and refined locust bean gum: In relation to rheological properties

In this study the composition of higher quality refined locust bean gum (rLBG) was compared with lower quality crude locust bean gum (cLBG) samples to understand the differences in functionality. M/G ratio has a great bearing on the viscosity and gelling properties of the material. The values obtained for M/G ratio of cLBG and rLBG samples range from 3.1 to 3.9, respectively, however high levels of arabinose were found in cLBG. This indicates that other polysaccharides, which could contain galactose or mannose, are present in the less refined materials. This would question the accuracy of using M/G ratio of cruder seed gums as a tool for predicting galactomannan content and so gelling properties. cLBG also contained higher levels of protein, fat, and ash which could also have an effect on functionality.