Analysis of Influencing Factors on Viscosity of Agar Solution for Capsules

Abstract The viscosity of agar solution for capsules depends on the molecular structure and chemical composition of agar. In addition, many external factors also affect its viscosity, such as concentration, temperature, metal ions, electrolyte and non electrolyte, mechanical stirring shear. In this paper, the factors that affect the viscosity of the liquid, which mainly include concentration, temperature and pH, are studied. The results showed that the order of the influence on the viscosity of agar solution was agar concentration > water hardness > solution temperature > pH. Within the range of this experiment, agar concentration, water hardness and solution temperature have significant effects on the viscosity of agar solution, while the pH of solution has no significant effect on the viscosity.