Assembly behavior and nano-scale microstructure of tamarind gum/xanthan synergistic interaction gels

Synergistic interaction gels (SIGs) hold immense promise for applications in 3D printing, colonic drug delivery, and sustained release. The amalgamation of xanthan and tamarind gum (TMG) gives rise to SIGs through molecular interaction; however, the intricacies of their assembly behaviors remain elusive. This work elucidates that in xanthan-rich systems, the predominant formation of xanthan aggregations shapes network assembly structure, with TMG clusters adhering to them. Conversely, in TMG-rich systems, TMG clusters actively participate in creating a “sea-island” assembly structure enveloped by xanthan aggregations. Higher concentration of TMG contributes to augmenting the association extent of TMG and xanthan. The heightened binding between TMG and xanthan correlates with an increase in chain distance in scatters and the compactness of scatter arrangement. These favor the development of micro-structures with a relatively larger mesh size and the enhancement of gel hardness. This study serves to facilitate the design and production of SIGs-based artificial gel foods with the requisite performance characteristics, such as artificial sea cucumber and porcine back fat.