An additionall species, Gigartina is grown in the cold coastal waters. This was used by Chinese as much as 600 B.C. in aspics and salads. Carrageenan come from three sources and the properties vary for each. This particularly gum will interact with potassium ions and form a rigid gel. Lambda carrageenan does not gel.
Iota carrageenan forms a pliable gel in the presence of iota carrageenan.
Micellar casein kappa carrageenan mixtures. I. Phase separation and ultrastructure. At 50 degrees C, that is above the conformational transition temperature of the carrageenan, a macroscopic phase separation was clearly evidenced. Accordingly, ternary phase diagrams were established as a function of the biopolymer concentration for each system. By analogy with other particulate systems, it was assumed that this phase separation originated from a depletion flocculation mechanism.