Effects of salts on pasting, thermal, and rheological properties of rice starch (RS) in the presence
of non-ionic (guar gum; GG) or ionic (xanthan; XT) hydrocolloid were studied. Rapid visco-analysis
(RVA) showed that addition of salts significantly increased peak, breakdown, and final viscosities,
and pasting temperatures of RS/XT blends, whereas those of RS/GG blends were varied depending
on the type of salts added. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) demonstrated that salt addition
significantly increased gelatinization temperatures of either RS/GG or RS/XT blend, whereas gelatinization
enthalpy was less affected. Dynamic viscoelastic tests revealed that addition of salts had a
more pronounced effect on enhancing structure formation of RS/XT gels than that of RS/GG gels. The
steady shear viscosity was generally in line with the values of final viscosity obtained during pasting.
These results would be used as a guideline for developing starch-based food products containing
salts.