Characterization of Novel Edible Films and Coatings for Food Preservation Based on Gum Cordia

As a pharmaceutical component, gum Cordia has been applied to improve crop resistance against many diseases. A large amount of gum appears around the fruit after soaking in an aqueous system. The mucilage possesses outstanding technofunctional properties as an emulsifier, thickening agent, and binding and stabilizing component in food and drug industries. The backbone of gum Cordia is composed of (1-2)-linked L-arabinofuranosyl and (1–6)-linked D-glucopyranosyl residues. This manuscript reviews the technofunctional properties and applications of gum Cordia in food systems. Particularly, our focus has been given to its application as a natural source for the formation of edible films and coatings for increasing the shelf life of food products and for the food preservation as a potential ingredient in formulation. The future research perspectives are also highlighted.

The Effects of Gum Cordia on the Physicochemical, Textural, Rheological, Microstructural, and Sensorial Properties of Apple Jelly

The aim of this research was to study the effects of gum cordia on the physicochemical, color, textural, rheological, microstructural, and sensorial properties of apple jelly. Apple jelly was prepared by replacement of 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% of pectin with gum cordia. The results showed that gum cordia had a significant effect on the physicochemical properties (ash, protein, TPC, DE, and color) of apple jelly. The total phenol content of the sample significantly increased with the addition of gums. The rheological properties showed that a sample containing 75% gum cordia was similar to control and had the highest apparent viscosity, loss moduli (G″), storage moduli (G′), and complex viscosity. Also, the sensorial properties showed that a sample containing 75% gum cordia had a high score in texture, taste, appearance, and overall acceptability. The results suggested that gum cordia as a polymer can be successfully employed for the formulation of jelly for improving technofunctional properties of jelly.

Use of Gum Cordia (Cordia myxa) as a Natural Starch Modifier; Effect on Pasting, Thermal, Textural, and Rheological Properties of Corn Starch

Incorporation of hydrocolloid gums in native starches help to improve their pasting, thermal, rheological and textural properties along with improvement in the stability of starch gels. The use of Cordia gum is not widely studied as a starch modifier and this fact could make this study more interesting and unique. This study investigated the effects of the non-conventional hydrocolloid gum (Cordia gum) on corn starch properties. Corn starch and gum Cordia (GC) blends were prepared at different replacement levels (0%, 3%, 6%, 9%, and 12%). The effect of GC levels on pasting, thermal, rheological, and textural properties were evaluated using rapid viscoanalyzer, differential scanning colorimeter, rheometer, and texture analyzer. The presence of GC significantly increased starch gelatinization temperatures, enthalpies, peak viscosities, final viscosities, and setback viscosities. GC improved freeze thaw stability in starch. The shear rate (1/s) versus shear stress (σ) data of all samples fitted well to the simple power law model (R2 = 0.97–0.99). The control had the lowest flow behavior index (n; 0.17), which increased to (0.36–0.56) with increasing GC levels. The consistency index (K) of the starch-gum blends increased with increasing GC levels. The dominance of elastic properties over viscous properties was demonstrated by G′ > G″. The magnitudes of G′ and G″ increased with increasing GC concentration. The outcomes could help to use this modification method as an alternative to chemical and enzymatic modification with respect to cost, safety, less time consumption and less requirement of process modifications.