Relaxation temperature and storage stability of the functionalized cell wall material residue from lemon peel

Lemon peel cell wall material (CWM) residue obtained after acid pectin extraction can be functionalized into a texturizing ingredient using mechanical treatments such as high-pressure homogenization. The application of CWM as a texturizing ingredient is most likely through a dry powder and thus the stability of its functionality (rheological property) during storage becomes an obvious question. However, studies on the glass transition properties of this CWM residue and it's relation to storage stability are largely lacking. This study aims to first evaluate the potential of two methods, i.e. DSC analysis and combined TMCT-DMTA (thermal mechanical compression test – dynamic mechanical thermal analysis) to measure the Tg and relaxation temperature of lemon peel CWM and subsequently relate the results to the stability of the material's rheological property. The results showed that DSC-based Tg measurements may not be the most appropriate indicator for storage stability of the lemon peel CWM residue, despite being the most commonly used method to explain state transition in materials. On the other hand, the structural relaxation phenomena elucidated by the change in mechanical properties measured by TMCT-DMTA correlated with the results of storage stability of the material. To ensure the stability of the CWM residue, storage should be carried out at conditions (temperature and moisture content) before the onset of tan δ curve change. In conclusion, relaxation phenomena observed through the measurement of mechanical properties, in particular the tan δ curve from DMTA, provides a suitable starting point for inferring the stability of the functionalized CWM residue.