Frying of rice flour dough strands containing gum Arabic: texture, sensory attributes and microstructure of products.

The effects of rice flour (50–56%, w/w) and gum
Arabic (0–5%, w/w) on the physical, sensory and structural
features of the fried dough strands were investigated. Up to
25.8% reduction in oil was possible by the incorporation of
gum Arabic. The wide variations in failure force
(13.8–25.3 N) and failure strain (11.0–28.6%) indicated the
formation of snacks varying in texture from a soft-to-bite
brittle product to a hard-to-eat less brittle sample. The
snacks possessed a porous microstructure with air cells,
pores and vacuoles; the cell walls were more than 100 lm
in thickness. The textural parameters like failure force,
failure energy and failure stress behaved in a similar
manner in the principal component analysis biplot. High
moisture content in the dough decreased the sensory
acceptance of the fried snacks. The high desirability index
of 0.9 could be achieved with a high level of rice flour
(56%, w/w) while gum Arabic content was between 3.50
and 3.75% (w/w).