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This study demonstrated that the rheological behavior of mucin, a glycoprotein, mainly depends on the concentration of its dispersions and purity of the sample. Rheological properties were studied under rotational and oscillatory shear and creep curves. The results showed that mucin dispersions display non-Newtonian behavior of the shear thinning type. The mucin dispersion showed an apparent viscosity ranging from 0.22 to 29.29 Pa.s; at 10% concentration it formed macromolecular solutions with G 00 >G 0 ; these showed viscoelastic liquid behavior, while at 40% it showed viscoelastic solid behavior, characteristic of weak gels, G 0 >G 00 . Atomic force microscopy revealed topographical differences on the commercial mucin surface, as in non-purified and purified mucin gels.

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