PELOTAS, BRAZIL — Gluten-free cakes formulated with xanthan gum and rice and corn flours presented desirable quality characteristics that resembled the physical, chemical and sensory attributes of traditional cakes formulated with wheat flour in a study appearing on-line Oct. 10 in the International Journal of Food Science & Technology.

Researchers from the Federal University of Pelotas used three formulas with xanthan gum at 0.2%, 0.3% and 0.4% of the application, respectively. Two controls that had no xanthan gum were used with one of them using wheat flour instead of rice flour. Cakes formulated with xanthan gum at 0.3% and 0.4% displayed improved quality characteristics such as increased specific volume, enhanced texture in terms of decreased firmness and delayed staling.