Complex coacervation of scallop (Patinopecten yessoensis) male gonad hydrolysates and κ-carrageenan: Effect of NaCl and KCl

The complex coacervation between scallop Patinopecten yessoensis male gonad hydrolysates (SMGHs) and κ-carrageenan (κ-C) as influenced by ionic strength (NaCl and KCl) were monitored by using turbidimetric analysis at pH 1–12. The optical density of SMGHs/κ-C complexes initially increased at lower ionic strength (0–0.5 M) whereas decreased at higher ionic strength (0.5–1.5 M) as a result of the salt-enhanced and salt-reduced effect, respectively. Both of pHc and pHφ1 exhibited ionic strength-dependent behavior that firstly shifted to acidic pH followed by an increase as salt increasing. Moreover, salt addition strongly promoted the gelation of SMGHs/κ-C which was mainly driven by electrostatic forces, as reflected by increasing storage modulus G' from 3621 to 6559 Pa, 2681–25631 Pa at 0.1 Hz and decreasing T23 relaxation time from 349.10 to 296.89 ms, 241.07–186.89 ms by 0–0.5 M NaCl/KCl, respectively. Furthermore, the rheological and relaxation time T2 data were well associated with microscopy images that SMGHs/κ-C gels with NaCl/KCl showed a denser network with more flocculation formation and larger pore sizes with thicker network wall, especially in KCl group, which indeed supported the gel elasticity. Taken together, this study could provide theoretical and methodological basis for new functional hydrogel products with modified gel strength and microstructure by understanding the complex coacervation in gel system.