# _Psyllium_ and _Laminaria_ Partnership--An Overview of Possible Food Gel Applications
## 3 Results and Discussion
### Effect of Laminaria-Psyllium Ratio on the Dynamic Viscoelasticity  
Figure 2 shows the elastic behavior of _Laminaria-Psyllium_ gel systems. As the alga fraction increased, a structuring effect was observed in the gels. This behavior was markedly noticed in the highest alga concentration (Lo.Psy_75.25 and LoUS.Psy_75.25). This interaction is probably due to physical entanglements between the polymers present in both the alga and _Psyllium_, causing the reinforcement of the gel. However, in the absence of the _Psyllium_ gel, the alga purees showed a huge decrease in G' to values similar to the control (Psy), but more frequency dependent (b' = 0.209) [17]. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Samples** & **L*** & **a*** & **b*** & **\(\Delta\)E*** \\ \hline _Psyllium_ **husk (160–315 μm)** & \(59.39\pm 0.91\) a & \(6.06\pm 0.18\) a & \(24.22\pm 0.37\) a & - \\ \hline _Laminaria ochroleuca_[17] & \(56.36\pm 0.57\) & \(-2.48\pm 0.04\) & \(14.49\pm 0.18\) & - \\
**AH liquor**[17] & \(31.42\pm 1.74\) & \(1.45\pm 0.26\) & \(2.88\pm 1.60\) & - \\ \hline \hline
**Psy (control)** & \(33.12\pm 1.78\) b,c & \(1.32\pm 0.14\) c & \(9.85\pm 1.36\) c & - \\
**PsyL** & \(35.70\pm 2.86\) b & \(3.78\pm 1.50\) b & \(17.67\pm 5.54\) b & \(8.6\) \\
**Lo.Psy\_25.75** & \(30.08\pm 0.37\) c,d & \(-0.16\pm 0.22\) d & \(12.82\pm 0.57\) c & \(4.5\) \\
**Lo.Psy\_50.50** & \(27.50\pm 0.77\) d,e & \(-0.07\pm 0.16\) d & \(12.37\pm 1.07\) c & \(6.3\) \\
**Lo.Psy\_75.25** & \(25.14\pm 1.70\) e & \(-0.45\pm 0.09\) d & \(10.90\pm 1.24\) c & \(8.2\) \\ \hline
**LoUS.Psy\_25.75** & \(29.98\pm 0.82\) d & \(-0.06\pm 0.23\) d & \(14.10\pm 0.46\) b,c & \(5.5\) \\
**LoUS.Psy\_50.50** & \(26.96\pm 1.17\) d,e & \(-0.40\pm 0.09\) d & \(12.38\pm 1.15\) c & \(6.9\) \\
**LoUS.Psy\_75.25** & \(25.87\pm 0.55\) e & \(-0.64\pm 0.06\) d & \(11.60\pm 1.14\) c & \(7.7\) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* Psy (control), _Psyllium_ gels prepared in water; PsyL, _Psyllium_ gels prepared in autohydrolysis liquor; _Laminaria-Psyllium_ gels: Lo.Psy_25.75, Lo.Psy_50.50, and Lo.Psy_75.25; _Laminaria_ with ultrasonic treatment-_Psyllium_ gels: LoUS.Psy_25.75, LoUS.Psy_50.50, and LoUS.Psy_75.25. Data are presented as the mean \(\pm\) sd. Different letters in the same column correspond to significant differences (\(p<0.05\)).  
\end{table} 
Table 2: Color parameters (L*, a*, b*) and \(\Delta\)E* of _Psyllium_ husk, _Laminaria ochroleuca_ and its AH liquor, and the gels developed. Figure 2: Elastic modulus at 0.1 Hz, 1 Hz, and 10 Hz of _Laminaria-Psyllium_ gels with (LoUS.Psy) and without ultrasonic treatment (Lo.Psy), control, and _Laminaria_ purees (Alga Purée; Alga Purée.US) [17]. This synergistic interaction was also found in other polymeric systems, namely between the locust bean gum (LBG) and xanthan gum, where the latter did not form gel, rather a shear-thinning solution, but combined with LBG to form a strong gel structure [26]. The mechanical spectra of the developed gels are depicted in Figure 3.  
Figure 3: Mechanical spectra of the _Psyllium_ gels prepared in water (control) and autohydrolysis liquor (PsyL). (**a**) _Laminaria-Psyllium_ gels (Lo.Psy_25.75, Lo.Psy_50.50, LoPSy_75.25); (**b**) _Laminaria_ with ultrasonic treatment-Psyllium_ gels (LoUS.Psy_25.75, LoUS.Psy_50.50, LoUSPsy_75.25; (**c**) G’, closed symbol; G”, open symbol. To quantify the impact of the different combinations of _Laminaria_ and _Psyllium_ on the viscoelastic moduli, the variation of G' and G\" with gel composition was obtained from the respective mechanical spectra (Table 3). The mechanical spectra Psy (control) and PsyL exhibited similar viscoelastic performance typical of well-structured weak gels, with slight frequency dependence (Figure 3a). This result is consistent with the rheological study by [PERSON] et al. (2017), in which it is also reported that _Psyllium_ husk forms gel even at low temperature, this being an important feature to consider in food design.