Rheological Properties of Dandelion Root Concentrates by Extraction Solvents

This study was performed to provide basic rheological data of dandelion root concentrates in order to predict their processing aptitude and usefulness as functional foods material. The hot water and 70% ethanol extracts of dandelion root were concentrated at 5, 20, and 50 Brix, and their static viscosity, dynamic viscosity, and Arrhenius plots were investigated. Almost all hot water concentrates showed the typical flow properties of a pseudoplastic fluid, but evaluation using the power law model indicated that the 70% ethanol concentrates showed a flow behavior close to a Newtonian fluid. The apparent viscosity of hot water and 70% ethanol concentrates decreased with increasing temperature. Yield stresses of hot water and 70% ethanol concentrates by Herschel-Bulkley model application were in the range of 0.026 - 1.368 Pa and 0.022 - 0.238 Pa, respectively. The effect of temperature and concentration on the apparent viscosity was examined by Arrhenius equation. The activation energies of hot water and 70% ethanol concentrates were in the range of $8.762-23.778{\times}10^3\;J/mol{\cdot}kg$ and $3.217-20.384{\times}10^3\;J/mol{\cdot}kg$ with increasing concentration, respectively. Storage (G') and loss (G") moduli were generally increased with increasing frequency. For the 70% ethanol concentrates, G" predominated over G' at all applied frequencies and so they showed the typical flow behavior of a low molecular solution. However, for the hot water concentrates, G' predominated over G" at more than 1.9 rad/sec (cross-over point) and so they showed the typical flow behavior of a macromolecular solution.