FOOD HYDROCOLLOIDS Food Hydrocolloids 21 (2007) 167–173 Functionality of different hydrocolloids on the quality and shelf-life of yellow layer cakes Manuel Go´ mez, Felicidad Ronda à , Pedro A. Caballero, Carlos A. Blanco, Cristina M. Rosell 1 Departamento de Ingenierı´a Agrı´cola y Forestal, Tecnologı´a de los Alimentos, E.T.S. Ingenierı´as Agrarias, Universidad de Valladolid, 34004 Palencia, Spain Received 7 April 2005; accepted 21 March 2006 Abstract Functionality of hydrocolloids of different origin and chemical structure (sodium alginate, carrageenan, pectin, hydroxy-propyl- methylcellulose, locust bean gum, guar gum and xanthan gum) on yellow layer cake quality and their potential use in retarding the staling process have been studied. Hydrocolloid effects were established by measuring batter density, water losses during and after baking, and size, shape and texture of yellow layer cakes. Texture was evaluated instrumentally through a texture profile analysis (TPA) test applied on fresh and 2 days stored yellow layer cakes. A hedonic sensory test of texture, odour, flavour, appearance and overall acceptance was also carried out. Physical properties of fresh cakes and their evolution in time were notably influenced by the type of hydrocolloid involved. In general, except when pectin was used, the overall acceptability of yellow layer cakes was always improved by hydrocolloid addition. Regarding shelf-life, xanthan was able to maintain totally unaltered all texture parameters during storage. r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Yellow layer cake; Hydrocolloids; Gums; Physical properties; Sensory evaluation; Cake quality; Texture 1. Introduction High-quality cakes have various attributes, including high volume, uniform crumb structure, tenderness, shelf- life and tolerance to staling (Ge´linas, Roy, & Guillet, 1999). These attributes depend on the balanced formulas, aeration of cake batters, stability of fluid batters in the early stage of baking, and thermal-setting stage. Then, the quality of a finished cake can be influenced by the addition of substances that affect these properties, as hydrocolloids do. These polysaccharides are used in food production as processing aids, to provide dietary fibre or to impart specific functional properties to the products (Anderson & Andon, 1988). They are able to improve food texture, retard starch retrogradation, improve moisture retention and enhance the overall quality of the products during storage (Stauffer, 1990). Hydrocolloids modify the pasting properties of starch (Christianson, Hodge, Osborne, & Detroy, 1981; Rojas, Rosell, & Benedito de Barber, 1999; Rosell, Rojas, & Benedito de Barber, 2001a). These starch properties, that include gelatinization temperature, paste viscosity and retrogradation of the starch, affect cake baking and final quality of cakes (Miller & Trimbo, 1965) and staling behaviour of baking products (Collar, 2003). Several studies have been carried out showing the potential use of hydrocolloids in breadmaking: wheat bread (Collar, Andreu, Martı´nez, & Armero, 1999; Guarda, Rosell, Benedito, & Galotto, 2004; Rosell, Rojas, & Benedito de Barber, 2001b; Sidhu & Bawa, 2002), whole wheat bread (Bell, 1990; Mettler & Seibel, 1993), rye bread (Mettler & Seibel, 1995), protein-fortified starch bread (Christianson, Gardner, Warner, Boundy, & Inglett, 1974) and frozen bread dough (Ribotta, Pe´rez, Leo´n, & An˜on, 2004). The use of hydrocolloids as antistaling agents in bread has also been studied (Armero & Collar, 1996, 1998; Davidou et al., ARTICLE IN PRESS www.elsevier.com/locate/foodhyd 0268-005X/$ - see front matter r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foodhyd.2006.03.012 à Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 9 79 108339; fax: +34 9 79 108302. E-mail address: fronda@iaf.uva.es (F. Ronda). 1 Instituto de Agroquı´mica y Tecnologı´a de Alimentos (IATA-CSIC), P.O. Box 73. Burjasot 46100, Valencia, Spain.