Reduction of oil absorption in rice flour‐based snack by the incorporation of hydrocolloids

Abstract

Hydrocolloids a diverse group of microbial polysaccharides have unique applications and widely used in the food industry. The present study focuses on the effectiveness of (gellan gum and pullulan) in reducing oil absorption of RF snack. The hydrocolloids were incorporated in the rice flour on a dry weight basis and frying was performed at 2, 4 and 6 minutes. The oil absorption of the fried RF snack was evaluated along with moisture retention, hardness, colour, sensorial characteristics. Based on the results, we conclude that gellan gum was found to be more effective in reducing oil absorption over pullulan. The oil absorption of RF snack decreased with increased concentrations of hydrocolloids whereas the textural observation resulted in less hard RF snack to a hard-to-bite RF snack. Based on the sensorial evaluation, 2% gellan gum and 5% pullulan incorporated RF snack fried at 4 mins were found to be acceptable.