• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.607-611
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• 1999

Carrageenan are sulfated polymers containing galactose and anhydrogalctose units, and is used for its gelling, thickening, stabilizing, emulsifying, and suspending properties. However, carrageenan is limited to use beyond $0.03\%$ as food additives because of its high degree of gelling and viscosity with low solubility. The use of ultrasound significantly reduced the viscosity of $\lambda$-carrageenan solutions. The optimal parameters of ultrasound for reduction of carrageenan molecular weight were temperature, $10^{\circ}C$ ultrasound intensity, 114.7 $W/cm^2$ ; carrageenan concentration, $2\%$; treatment time, 10 min. The molecular weights of control, ultrasound peak 1, and peak 2 were approximately 250,000, 184,000, and 67,000 daltons, respectively. The lower molecular weight of $\lambda$-carrageenan showed the higher solubility, the lower alcohol precipitation ratio and the lower emulsifying capacity. Browning degree of both control and lower molecular $\lambda$-carrageenans was not significantly different.