Mixture design approach on the dynamic rheological and uniaxial compression behaviour of milk desserts

Mixture design experiments were used to study the interactions between κ-carrageenan, native maize starch and milk proteins in the formation of a mixed gel structure. The milk dessert is considered as a three-component system in which the interactions between two ingredients are not isolated from the third constituent. The product is characterized via dynamic rheological measurements and uniaxial compression tests. To take into account the influence of water in the system, two experimental designs with a different constant water content (70 and 75 wt%) were constructed. Both for the dynamic rheological moduli as for the gel strength, Scheffé second order polynomials with a very high determination coefficient have been obtained. It is found that the rheological and textural parameter results are highly influenced by the water content in the system. Both exclusion effects and effects of leached out amylose are suggested to cause the differences between the experimental designs with a different constant water content. However, a combined interpretation of the results obtained via dynamic rheology and uniaxial compression is not obvious.