Gellan Gum in Non-Dairy Cream: How Hydrocolloids Affect Whipping, Texture and Stability

🥛 Non-dairy cream looks simple when it is sitting in a package.

But making a plant-based or non-dairy cream that can actually be whipped, hold its structure, and remain stable during storage is a much more complicated formulation problem.

The product needs to balance several properties at the same time:

• Flowability before whipping
• Whipping ability
• Air incorporation
• Foam stability
• Firmness
• Mouthfeel
• Resistance to separation

A recent 2026 study published in npj Science of Food investigated how different hydrocolloid systems containing gellan gum, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), and tara gum affected the physical properties of non-dairy whipped cream.

The study is particularly useful because it shows that gellan gum does not simply act as a thickener. Its interaction with other hydrocolloids can influence the entire structure of the cream system.

🥛 Why Is Non-Dairy Cream Difficult to Stabilize?

Whipped cream is not simply a liquid with air mixed into it.

It is a complex multiphase system containing:

Water + oil/fat + proteins + hydrocolloids + air

When the cream is whipped, air bubbles are introduced into the system.

Those bubbles need to remain stable.

At the same time, the liquid phase needs enough structure to prevent rapid drainage and collapse.

If the continuous phase is too thin, the foam may become unstable.

If it is too viscous, however, whipping becomes more difficult and the final product may feel excessively heavy.

This creates a basic formulation challenge:

The cream needs enough structure to hold air, but not so much structure that it becomes difficult to whip.

🔬 What Did the 2026 Study Investigate?

The researchers examined hydrocolloid blends containing three main ingredients:

• Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC)
• Tara gum (TG)
• Gellan gum (GG)

The concentration ranges included:

Hydrocolloid	Studied range
HPMC	0.05–0.63%
Tara gum	0–0.30%
Gellan gum	0–0.10%

The researchers evaluated the resulting non-dairy cream systems using measurements of:

• Viscosity
• Whipping performance
• Firmness
• Microstructure
• Creaming stability
• Interactions at the oil-water interface
• In-vitro digestion

This made the study much more informative than simply measuring viscosity before and after adding gellan gum.

🧪 Gellan Gum Was Used at a Low Level

One of the practical points is the relatively low concentration of gellan gum investigated.

The study examined gellan gum up to 0.1%.

This is consistent with one of the useful characteristics of gellan gum in food systems:

It can create significant structural effects at relatively low concentrations.

But the actual effect depends strongly on the surrounding formulation.

In this study, gellan gum was not being used alone.

It was part of a hydrocolloid network containing HPMC and/or tara gum.

That makes the results more interesting from a commercial formulation perspective.

📈 Hydrocolloids Strongly Increased Viscosity

The researchers found that adding the hydrocolloid systems significantly increased the viscosity of the unwhipped cream.

The measured viscosity ranged from approximately:

0.10 ± 0.00 to 8.04 ± 0.94 Pa·s

depending on the formulation.

That is a very large difference.

But the important point is that increasing viscosity does not automatically mean better whipped cream.

In fact, the study found an inverse relationship between viscosity and overrun.

🫧 Higher Viscosity Can Reduce Overrun

Overrun is essentially a measure of how much air has been incorporated during whipping.

A higher overrun means that more air has been incorporated into the cream.

The study found that overrun was inversely correlated with viscosity.

In simple terms:

Higher viscosity → more resistance during whipping → lower air incorporation

This is a very practical observation.

If a formulator keeps increasing hydrocolloid concentration to make the cream more stable, the product may eventually become too viscous to whip efficiently.

So there is a balance between:

Stability ↔ Whipping performance

🧁 Firmness Increased With Viscosity

The researchers also found that firmness increased as viscosity increased.

This makes sense from a structural perspective.

A more highly structured continuous phase provides greater resistance to deformation.

But again, higher firmness is not necessarily the goal.

For whipped cream, the desired texture depends on the intended application.

A product used as a cake decoration may need greater firmness.

A product intended to be poured over dessert may require a much softer structure.

Therefore, the optimum hydrocolloid level depends on what the final product is supposed to do.

🌿 Why Combine Gellan Gum With HPMC?

One of the interesting aspects of the study was the interaction between the hydrocolloids.

The researchers observed synergistic interactions among the blends.

They suggested that this was related partly to the interaction between HPMC and gellan gum networks.

In other words, the final structure was not simply the sum of three independent hydrocolloids.

The polymers could interact with one another and change the overall physical properties of the system.

This is important because hydrocolloid formulation is often about combination effects, rather than selecting one ingredient in isolation.

🧬 What Happens at the Oil-Water Interface?

Cream contains an oil phase dispersed within a water phase.

The interface between these two phases is therefore extremely important.

The study used serum protein analysis and confocal microscopy to investigate what happened around the oil-water interface.

The results suggested that hydrocolloids and sodium caseinate competed for adsorption at the interface.

HPMC was particularly effective at displacing proteins from the interface.

This provides an important reminder:

Hydrocolloids can influence food structure not only through bulk viscosity but also through interactions with proteins and interfaces.

🔬 Gellan Gum Is Not Just a Thickener

This is probably the most useful lesson from the study.

If gellan gum were simply a thickener, we could describe its effect with one sentence:

More gellan gum = higher viscosity.

But the actual system is much more complicated.

Gellan gum can participate in network formation.

HPMC can form another type of structure.

Tara gum can interact with HPMC chains.

Proteins can compete for the oil-water interface.

The final product is therefore determined by the interaction between these components.

This is why two formulations with the same total hydrocolloid concentration can behave very differently.

🧪 Why Does Gellan Gum Need to Be Optimized Carefully?

Gellan gum is capable of producing a strong structure.

But whipped cream does not necessarily require a strong gel.

The formulation needs a controlled structure.

Too little structure:

→ weak foam
→ drainage
→ poor stability

Too much structure:

→ high viscosity
→ difficult whipping
→ lower overrun
→ potentially heavy texture

The objective is therefore not maximum gel strength.

It is the right balance between structure and processability.

🫧 What Happens During Whipping?

Before whipping, the cream is primarily a liquid or semi-liquid emulsion.

During whipping:

Air is introduced → bubbles form → bubbles become surrounded by the continuous phase → the structure develops

As more air is incorporated, the system becomes a foam.

The hydrocolloid network can influence how easily the continuous phase drains away from the bubbles.

This can affect foam stability.

But if the continuous phase becomes excessively viscous, the mechanical process of whipping can also become more difficult.

This explains why the relationship between viscosity and overrun is so important.

🍰 Different Applications Need Different Textures

Not every non-dairy cream product has the same target.

For example:

Cake Decoration

Needs relatively high firmness and good shape retention.

Whipped Topping

Needs good whipping performance, air incorporation and stability.

Dessert Topping

May need a softer, more spoonable texture.

Filling

May require higher structure but less emphasis on whipping.

Foodservice Cream

Needs stable performance during handling and storage.

Therefore, there is no single "best" hydrocolloid concentration.

The correct formulation depends on the intended use.

📊 What Should a Formulator Measure?

Viscosity is useful, but it should not be the only measurement.

For a non-dairy cream system, a more complete evaluation could include:

Property	What it tells you
Viscosity	Flow behavior before whipping
Overrun	Ability to incorporate air
Firmness	Final structural strength
Creaming stability	Resistance to phase separation
Microstructure	Distribution of droplets and air
Whipping time	Processing performance
Foam stability	Ability to retain structure
Sensory texture	Consumer perception
Storage stability	Long-term performance

The 2026 study used several of these approaches, which is one reason the results are useful for formulation work.

🧴 Storage Stability Is Another Challenge

A whipped cream can look perfect immediately after production and still develop problems later.

Possible changes include:

• Serum separation
• Loss of structure
• Oil separation
• Foam collapse
• Texture changes

The study examined creaming stability and found that HPMC-TG combinations and higher HPMC concentrations significantly improved stability.

This is another important point:

The best formulation for whipping is not necessarily the best formulation for long-term storage.

A commercial product needs to perform throughout its intended shelf life.

🌱 What Does Gellan Gum Contribute?

The study demonstrates that gellan gum can contribute to the structural behavior of a non-dairy cream system, particularly when combined with other hydrocolloids.

Its contribution can be viewed through several mechanisms:

Network formation

Gellan gum can contribute to the structural network of the aqueous phase.

Viscosity modification

It can increase the viscosity of the continuous phase.

Interaction with other polymers

It can interact with HPMC and influence the combined network.

Texture control

Changes in network structure can affect firmness and deformation.

But these effects are formulation-dependent.

There is no reason to expect the same concentration of gellan gum to work equally well in every non-dairy cream.

⚗️ Why the Hydrocolloid Combination Matters

One of the practical lessons from this paper is that hydrocolloids should not always be considered individually.

For example:

Gellan gum + HPMC

may behave differently from:

Gellan gum alone

And:

Gellan gum + HPMC + tara gum

may behave differently again.

The researchers observed synergistic interactions across the hydrocolloid blends.

This is particularly relevant to plant-based food formulation, where manufacturers often use combinations of stabilizers rather than relying on a single hydrocolloid.

🔬 What About Protein?

Protein is another important component of cream systems.

In the study, sodium caseinate was present and the researchers observed competition between hydrocolloids and protein at the oil-water interface.

This means the same gellan gum concentration could behave differently depending on the protein system.

A formulation containing:

• Sodium caseinate
• Pea protein
• Soy protein
• Another plant protein

may therefore require different optimization.

This is why formulation testing should use the actual protein source intended for the final product.

🧁 Gellan Gum and Plant-Based Food Development

The research is also relevant to the broader development of plant-based foods.

As manufacturers replace dairy ingredients with plant-based alternatives, many products lose some of the natural structure that dairy proteins and fats provide.

Hydrocolloids can then become important formulation tools.

They can help manage:

• Water distribution
• Viscosity
• Interfacial behavior
• Foam stability
• Texture
• Phase separation

Gellan gum is one of the hydrocolloids that can contribute to this structural design.

⚠️ More Hydrocolloid Is Not Always Better

This is perhaps the simplest practical conclusion.

Increasing hydrocolloid concentration can increase viscosity and firmness.

But excessive viscosity can reduce whipping performance.

Therefore:

Higher viscosity ≠ automatically better cream.

A good formulation needs to find the point where the product is structured enough to remain stable but still processes correctly.

This is particularly important for whipped products.

🧪 A Practical Development Strategy

For a manufacturer developing a new non-dairy cream, a useful approach would be:

Step 1 — Define the final use

Decide whether the product is intended for whipping, topping, filling or decoration.

Step 2 — Define the target texture

Determine the desired firmness and flow behavior.

Step 3 — Select the hydrocolloid system

Consider gellan gum together with other stabilizers where appropriate.

Step 4 — Start with low gellan levels

Because gellan gum can have a strong structural effect at low concentrations, begin with a controlled screening range.

Step 5 — Measure viscosity before whipping

This provides information about processability.

Step 6 — Whip under controlled conditions

Measure overrun and whipping time.

Step 7 — Evaluate the final structure

Measure firmness, stability and microstructure.

Step 8 — Test storage

Observe separation, foam collapse and texture changes over time.

This approach gives a much clearer picture than selecting a hydrocolloid concentration based only on viscosity.

🌿 The Main Lesson From the 2026 Study

The interesting part of this research is not simply that gellan gum can increase viscosity.

That is already well known.

The more useful finding is that different hydrocolloids interact to create a specific structure, and that structure influences several properties at once.

In the non-dairy cream system studied:

Hydrocolloid concentration → viscosity → whipping behavior → foam structure → firmness → stability

These properties are connected.

Changing one part of the system can therefore affect several others.

🚀 Where Could This Lead?

Non-dairy whipped cream is only one example.

Similar formulation principles can apply to other structured plant-based foods where manufacturers need to control air, water, oil and polymer networks simultaneously.

The broader direction is toward designing food structures rather than simply adding a thickener.

For gellan gum, this means thinking beyond:

"How much viscosity does it provide?"

and asking:

"What structure does it create, and how does that structure behave during processing and storage?"

📚 Research Behind This Article

This article is based primarily on the 2026 study:

Ng, C. K. Z., Zhao, L., & Du, J.

Effects of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, gellan, and tara gum on physicochemical properties of non-dairy fat cream.

npj Science of Food (2026).

Published July 23, 2026.

The study examined HPMC, tara gum and gellan gum concentrations in non-dairy whipped cream and evaluated viscosity, overrun, firmness, microstructure, interfacial interactions and stability.