Welcome to the Hydrocolloid Glossary
Your complete reference guide to food gums, thickeners, stabilizers, and texturizers. Whether you’re a chef, food technologist, or curious home cook, this glossary gives you clear definitions, practical uses, and scientific insights into every major hydrocolloid. Use it to master texture, gelation, and stability across modern recipes and commercial formulations.
Welcome to the Hydrocolloid Glossary — your complete reference guide to food gums, thickeners, stabilizers, and texturizers. Whether you’re a chef, food technologist, or curious home cook, understanding hydrocolloids is key to mastering modern recipes and food innovation. This glossary provides clear definitions, practical uses, and scientific insights into every major hydrocolloid used in today’s kitchens and commercial food production. Use it as a quick reference or as a learning tool to deepen your knowledge of how these powerful ingredients shape texture, stability, and flavor.
Your complete A–Z reference for the science of modern cooking ingredients. Clear definitions, practical notes, and cross-links to techniques, ingredients, and calculators.
Tip: Bookmark this page — we update entries as new techniques and ingredients emerge.
A
- Acacia Gum (Gum Arabic)
- Gum Arabic is a natural exudate from Acacia trees used as an emulsifier, film former, and stabilizer. Adds body without strong gelling.
- Activation Temperature process
- Temperature range where a hydrocolloid begins to hydrate or form a network. See also Hydration Temperature and Gelling Temperature.
- Alginate
- Salts of alginic acid (e.g., sodium alginate for thickening; calcium alginate for gels). Foundational for spherification.
- Alpha Gel / Beta Gel texture
- Informal kitchen terms: softer/elastic (alpha) vs more brittle (beta) gel structures depending on polymer/ions.
B
- Bloom Strength (Gelatin)
- Measure of gelatin gel firmness (higher Bloom = firmer). Influences texture, set speed, and melt profile.
- Brittle Gel
- Gel that fractures cleanly with little elasticity (e.g., agar, low-acyl gellan in certain ion conditions). Opposite of Elastic Gel.
- Buffer / Buffering Capacity
- Ingredient/system that resists pH change (e.g., sodium citrate) to stabilize hydrocolloid performance.
C
- Calcium Lactate / Calcium Chloride
- Common Ca²⁺ sources to crosslink alginate and some gellants; essential for spherification.
- Carrageenan (Kappa, Iota, Lambda)
- Red-seaweed polysaccharides: Kappa, Iota, Lambda.
- Chelating Agent (Sequestrant)
- Compound (e.g., sodium citrate) that binds ions like Ca²⁺ to control gelation.
- Clarity appearance
- Optical quality (clear vs opaque). Influenced by polymer type, concentration, dispersion method, and ions.
- Cold Soluble
- Hydrates/disperses in cold liquid without heating (e.g., instant starches, pretreated gums).
- Coacervation
- Phase separation where two colloids separate into polymer-rich droplets: useful in microencapsulation.
D
- Degree of Acetylation (DA) — Gellan Gum
- High-acyl gellan forms soft, elastic gels; low-acyl forms firm, brittle gels.
- Degree of Methoxylation (DM) — Pectin
- HM pectin (DM > 50%) vs LM pectin (DM < 50%).
- Dispersibility
- How evenly a powder spreads before hydration; improve via high shear and premixing with sugar/oil.
E
- Elastic Gel
- Gel that deforms and springs back (e.g., iota carrageenan, high-acyl gellan, gelatin).
- Emulsifier
- Surface-active agent (e.g., lecithin, gum Arabic) that helps oil and water mix.
F
- Foam Stabilization
- Methylcellulose for hot foams; lecithin for cold foams.
- Freeze–Thaw Stability
- Ability to resist texture loss or syneresis after freezing and thawing.
G
- Gelation
- Transition from liquid to networked solid/semi-solid; driven by temperature, ions, pH.
- Gellan Gum (High-acyl / Low-acyl)
- Bacterial polysaccharide producing clear, heat-stable gels. High-acyl = soft/elastic; low-acyl = firm/brittle.
- Gelling Temperature
- Approximate temperature where a system sets, distinct from melting temperature.
- Guar Gum
- Guar gum is a cold-hydrating seed gum; synergistic with xanthan.
H
- Hydration Temperature
- Temperature required for complete hydration; affects clumping and yield.
- Hydrocolloid
- A hydrocolloid is a water-loving polymer used to thicken, stabilize, emulsify, or gel.
I
- Ionic Strength
- Total ion concentration affecting gelation/viscosity (e.g., Ca²⁺ promotes alginate/pectin crosslinking).
- Iota Carrageenan
- Iota Carrageenan forms elastic, freeze–thaw-tolerant gels (Ca²⁺).
K
- Kappa Carrageenan
- Kappa carrageenan forms strong, brittle gels (K⁺).
- Konjac Gum (Glucomannan)
- Konjac gum has high viscosity; synergistic with xanthan or carrageenan.
L
- Lambda Carrageenan
- Lambda carrageenan is non-gelling; provides viscosity and creamy mouthfeel.
- Lecithin
- Lecithin is a phospholipid emulsifier for sauces and foams.
- Locust Bean Gum (Carob Gum)
- Locust bean gum synergizes with kappa carrageenan and xanthan.
M
- Melting Temperature
- Temperature where a set gel liquefies (gelatin vs agar).
- Methylcellulose
- Gels when heated and softens when cooled; used in hot foams/fried coatings.
- Microencapsulation
- Entrapping actives (often gum Arabic + maltodextrin) for stability and controlled release.
P
- pH Tolerance
- Effective pH range for function; extremes can inhibit hydration or break gels.
- Pectin (HM / LM)
- Pectin: HM (sugar + acid set) vs LM (Ca²⁺ set for low sugar).
- Pregelatinized Starch
- Pre-cooked starch that thickens cold systems.
- Pseudoplastic (Shear-Thinning) Behavior
- Viscosity decreases under shear and recovers at rest (xanthan sauces).
R
- Retrogradation (Starch)
- Recrystallization after cooling; can cause firming/syneresis.
- Rheology
- Study of flow and deformation; central to mouthfeel and stability.
S
- Set Time
- Time to reach usable gel strength; depends on concentration, temperature, ions.
- Shear / High Shear
- Mechanical energy to disperse powders and break lumps; improves hydration.
- Sodium Citrate
- Sodium citrate controls Ca²⁺ in spherification; improves cheese emulsions.
- Spherification (Direct / Reverse)
- Spherification uses alginate + calcium to form gel membranes around liquids.
- Stabilizer
- Maintains emulsions/suspensions; prevents syneresis.
- Syneresis
- Liquid expulsion from a gel; minimized by correct polymer/level/ions.
T
- Thermo-Irreversible
- Once set, gel doesn’t melt under normal reheating (alginate, low-acyl gellan).
- Thermo-Reversible
- Gel melts and resets repeatedly (gelatin, agar, some carrageenans).
- Thixotropy
- Time-dependent shear thinning; relevant in sauces/dressings.
X
- Xanthan Gum
- Xanthan gum is versatile for thickening/stabilization; synergistic with guar and LBG.
Y
- Yield Stress
- Minimum force to initiate flow; helps suspensions resist settling.
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