ABSTRACT
Gelation is a very important property of several proteins, and plays a major role in the preparation of many foods. Gelation is utilized not only for the formation of solid viscoelastic gels, but improved thickening, adhesion, water capacity, emulsion, and foam-stabilizing effects. The gelation process, which is generally achieved by heating, requires a protein that unfolds to expose its functional groups. However, gelation also requires the formation of a three-dimensional matrix of partially associated polypeptides. It is therefore a complex process involving denaturation, dissociation-association, and aggregation reactions (Hermansson, 1986; Damodaran, 1989).
