The aim of the present study was to determine the viscoelastic properties of the model mixtures of selected pasted polysaccharides. The initial materials used were water pastes of waxy corn and normal corn starch, mixed with guar gum. The rheological tests were performed in a time domain. The theoretical analysis covered the adaptation of some achievements of the phenomenological theory of viscoelasticity, which were applied during the interpretation of the results obtained for the aforementioned mixtures of biopolymers. The emphasis was placed on the description of the retardation behaviours with the aim to develop a continuous rheological Burger model. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.