Difference Between Gelatinization and Gelation

The key difference between gelatinization and gelation is that gelatinization occurs due to the breakdown of linkages, whereas gelation occurs due to the formation of linkages.

Although the terms gelatinization and gelation sound similar, they are two different terms with different uses. Gelatinization is the process of breaking down the intermolecular bonds between starch molecules, allowing the hydrogen bonding sites to engage more water molecules. Gelation, on the other hand, is the process of formation of a gel from a system with polymers.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Gelatinization 
3. What is Gelation 
4. Side by Side Comparison – Gelatinization vs Gelation in Tabular Form
5. Summary

What is Gelatinization?

Gelatinization is the process of breaking down the intermolecular bonds between starch molecules, allowing the hydrogen bonding sites to engage more water molecules. This term is applied to starch; thus, it is called starch gelatinization. In the presence of water and heat, the intermolecular bonds between starch molecules breakdown and, the hydrogen bonding sites can hold more water molecules. Then the starch granules become dissolved in water irreversibly and act as a plasticizer.

Gelatinization occurs in three steps as starch granule swelling, melting, and amylose leaching. During heating, swelling occurs due to the absorption of water into the amorphous space of starch. Then water enters the tightly bound areas of starch granule which contain helical structures of amylopectin. Usually, water cannot enter this region, but heating allows this to occur. Therefore, the penetration of water increases the randomness of starch granules, which leads to the disintegration of starch.

The factors that affect the gelatinization include types of plant from which the starch is obtained, amount of water present in the medium, pH, concentration of salt in medium, sugar, proteins and fat content.

What is Gelation?

Gelation is the formation of a gel from a system with polymers. The branched polymer materials can form linkages between branches. This leads to the formation of large polymer networks. At some point of this network formation, a single macroscopic molecule forms and we call this point as the gel point. At this point, the system loses its fluidity and viscosity. Meanwhile, it becomes very large. We can determine the gel point of a system by observing a sudden change in viscosity. After the formation of this infinite network material, it is called the “gel”, and it does not dissolve in the solvent. But it can undergo swelling.

There are two ways that a gel can form: physical linking or chemical crosslinking. Physical gelation process involves physical bonding between polymer molecules while chemical crosslinking involves covalent bond formation between polymer molecules.

What is the Difference Between Gelatinization and Gelation?

Gelatinization is the process of breaking down the intermolecular bonds between starch molecules allowing the hydrogen bonding sites to engage more water molecules. Gelation is the formation of a gel from a system with polymers. So, the key difference between gelatinization and gelation is that gelatinization occurs due to the breakdown of linkages, whereas gelation occurs due to the formation of linkages.

Below infographic summarizes the difference between gelatinization and gelation.

Summary – Gelatinization vs Gelation

Gelatinization is the process of breaking down the intermolecular bonds between starch molecules allowing the hydrogen bonding sites to engage more water molecules. Gelation is the process of forming a gel from a system with polymers. The key difference between gelatinization and gelation is that gelatinization occurs due to the breakdown of linkages, whereas gelation occurs due to formation of linkages.

Reference:

1. “Starch Gelatinization.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Mar. 2020, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “starch-geltzn” By profkarim (CC BY-SA 2.0) via Flickr
2. “1243604” (CC0) via Pixabay