The Evaluation of Xanthan Gum Addition on the Characteristics of Local Sweet Bread (Kichi) and the Use of Image Processing to the Assessment of its Microstructural Properties

Kichi is a local sweet bread that is cooked in the west of Iran, especially in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province. This product is traditionally produced and has a low shelf life and hard texture. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of xanthan gum (0, 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5%) to improve the quality of Kichi sweet bread. Also mean size area, porosity, fractal dimension, and color parameters of Kichi bread were evaluated. The results showed that addition of xanthan led to improving WHC. The results of the texture analysis showed that softer samples were obtained in the low concentrations of xanthan gum (0.1% based on flour) and gumminess in this sample was significantly less than other samples (p < /em><0.050). Also, the porosity of the product in the low concentrations of xanthan (0.1%) was similar to the control, but in the high concentration of xanthan gum, the porosity of the product reduced. On the other hand, the results showed that the addition of xanthan gum did not affect the fractal dimension of the product texture. In the case of product color, the xanthan had a significant effect on the L* and b* values of the texture. Finally, it can be stated that using 0.1% of xanthan gum in the formulation of this local bread led to the production of a quality product regarding color and texture. The sensory evaluation results of the samples showed that the addition of xanthan improves the sensory properties of the samples. In general, samples containing 0.1% xanthan had better texture and sensory properties.