Development of Gluten-Free Cake for Improving Textural and Sensory Characteristics with Chia Flour

Lack of gluten affects the quality of gluten-free (GF) cake. Mainly due to the ingredients used and their characteristics, GF cake has numerous drawbacks such as unsatisfactory texture. The present study determines the influence of different percentages of chia seed flour and xanthan gum on the consumer aspects and also the physical quality of rice/sweet potato flour-based gluten-free (GF) cakes by adding xanthan gum. A composite central design (CCD) was applied to optimize the levels of effects of ratio of rice/sweet potato flours, chia seed flour concentration, and xanthan gum concentration on the textural and sensory properties. The results of optimization analysis observed that the best formulation was prepared from ratio of rice to sweet potato flours of 60 to 40% w/w, chia seed flour of 2.5% w/w, and xanthan gum of 0.03% w/w as optimum point. Also, one sample t-test results indicated that the experimental values of responses were close to predicted ones and confirmed them. The textural, physical, and also sensory properties showed that adding whole chia seed flour led to increase the hardness and a reduction in the specific volume of the cakes. The presence of xanthan gum was essential to soften the texture of the cake. In final, it can be stated that whole chia seed flour with suitable quality and healthy characteristics can be utilized as a good alternative ingredient to prepare various gluten-free products.