Effect of Concentration and Temperature on Flow Properties of Alyssum homolocarpum Seed Gum Solutions: Assessment of Time Dependency and Thixotropy

Effects of different shear rates (14, 25, and 50 s⁻¹), gum concentrations (3%, 3.5%, and 4%), and temperatures (5–65 °C) on flow properties of Alyssum homolocarpum seed gum solutions were investigated using a rotational viscometer. The experimental data were fitted with three time-dependent rheological models, namely second-order structural kinetic model, Weltman model, and first-order stress decay model with a non-zero stress value. The rate constant and extent of viscosity strongly depended on the shear rate, gum concentration, and temperature. It was found that A. homolocarpum seed gum samples exhibited shear thinning and thixotropic behavior for all concentrations and temperatures. The amount of structural breakdown decreased with shear rate, but it did not have a general trend with concentration and temperature. The extent of thixotropy increased with increasing gum concentration and decreased with increasing temperature and shear rate. In this work, the decay rate constant generally increased with increasing shear rate; however, it did not have any trend with concentration and temperature.