Gelation of xyloglucan ID water/alcohol systems

Xyloglucan has a cellulose backbone with branched (1→6)-α-xylose or (1→2)-β-galactoxylose as a side chain. Its aqueous solution yields a gel by adding alcohol. The gel structure of xyloglucan ID various kinds of mono- or polyhydric alcohol/water systems was studied by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The gelation behavior ID strongly dependent on the type of alcohol. The SAXS from gel with monohydric alcohols indicated that the xyloglucan chains caused random aggregation, as expressed with a Debye–Bueche type scattering function. The type of alcohol added was correlated with the size of the inhomogeneity, as evaluated by SAXS results. The gelation with polyhydric alcohols resulted ID less association, which occurred as side-by-side association with a few xyloglucan chains, rather than as random aggregation.