Abstract Alcogels have attracted many attentions recently due to their versatile functions and potential applications in developing innovative semi-solid alcohol-containing products. In this study, comparisons were made in the aspect of rheology, physicochemical properties and sodium release between the conventional alkali konjac glucomannan (KGM) gels and alkali KGM alcogels prepared by mixing ethanol with KGM aqueous solution at 0.02 wt%, 0.04 wt% or 0.08 wt% Na2CO3. 20% (v/w) Ethanol could promote the formation of a rigid yet brittle alcogel of KGM with lower dependence of rheological response on frequency and temperature at as low as 0.02 wt% Na2CO3. KGM alcogels were more opaque and constructed by small highly-connected pores, which are 30% smaller in average than those of their counterparts, examined by turbidity and microstructure measurements. Although the swelling ratio of KGM alcogel was only about one third of that of conventional alkali-induced gel, there was about fourfold rise in the amount of Na+ released from alcogels. The release of Na+ could be probably regulated by fine-tuning the macro-properties of alcogels through controlling the alkali concentrations.

中文翻译：

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乙醇诱导的新型低碱魔芋凝胶调节钠释放

摘要 醇凝胶因其多功能和在开发创新半固体含醇产品方面的潜在应用而备受关注。本研究对常规碱性魔芋葡甘露聚糖 (KGM) 凝胶和通过将乙醇与 KGM 水溶液以 0.02 wt%、0.04 wt% 或 0.08 重量％混合制备的碱性 KGM 醇凝胶在流变学、理化性质和钠释放方面进行了比较。重量％ Na2CO3。20% (v/w) 乙醇可以促进刚性但脆性的 KGM 醇凝胶的形成，在低至 0.02 wt% Na2CO3 的情况下，流变响应对频率和温度的依赖性较低。KGM 醇凝胶更不透明，由高度连通的小孔构成，平均比同类产品小 30%，通过浊度和微观结构测量检查。尽管 KGM 醇凝胶的溶胀率仅为常规碱诱导凝胶的三分之一左右，但从醇凝胶中释放的 Na+ 量却增加了约四倍。Na+ 的释放可能可以通过控制碱浓度来微调醇凝胶的宏观特性来调节。