Molecular Weight Influence on Gelatin Gels: Structure, Enthalpy and Rheology

Summary: This paper deals with the gelation properties of gelatins with various molecular weights. The samples are 4 different extracts from limed bones. We investigated firstly the structural properties: the helix amounts by optical rotation measurements and the enthalpy of helix formation and melting, with the same thermal protocols and for various concentrations. Comparison between the two methods allowed deriving the enthalpy of helix-coil transition and melting. Rheology was performed under the same conditions with a stress controlled rheometer working with a fixed, very small, strain during gel formation, maturation and melting. Correlation between all the measurements confirms the existence of the master curve for storage modulus versus gelatin concentration for all samples investigated.