The effect of different hydrocolloids on the whole wheat flour
dough is presented in Table 1. The whole wheat flour (CON) had
water absorption of 67.6%. With the addition of hydrocolloids, the
water absorption varied from 66.4% to 74.1%. Highest water
absorption was observed for CMC (74.1%) followed by XN (69.7%),
HPMC (69.6%) and for rest of the samples the water absorptionwas
lesser than that of the CON sample. The increase in water absorption
by the addition of hydrocolloids has been attributed to the
presence of hydroxyl groups in the hydrocolloid structure, which
allows more water interactions through hydrogen bonding (Friend,
Waniska, & Rooney, 1993; Guarda et al. 2004). Shalini and Laxmi