The effects of various gums and emulsifiers on baking quality, sensory characteristics and staling retardation of
microwave-baked cakes were investigated. The gums used were xanthan, Arabic gum and carrageenan each at levels
of 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0%, and emulsifiers used were angato gel, energy 100 and spongolit 283 at 3% in cake batter formulations.
No gums or emulsifiers were added in the control cake baked in microwave oven. The results demonstrated
that the volume and the specific volume of cakes were significantly (P≤0.05) increased when gums and spongolit 283
at level of 0.75% and 3%, respectively were added as compared to the control. Addition of xanthan at 1.0% in the
cakes gave the highest moisture content followed by carrageenan and finally Arabic gum as compared to the control
cake. Also angato gel and spongolit 283 were effective in retaining the moisture during storage. A significant (P≤0.05)
lower staling rate resulted in the cakes containing xanthan at all levels and spongolit 283 followed by angato gel and
energy 100 in comparison to the control sample. High acceptable cakes were obtained by adding xanthan or carrageenan
or Arabic gum at level 0.75%. The addition of spongolit 283 to the cakes, significantly (P ≤0.05) improved the
sensory characteristics followed by angato gel and energy 100 as compared to the control. In conclusion, our results
suggested that high quality microwave-baked cakes, more acceptable sensory properties, high moisture content, low
weight loss and extended shelf life can be obtained by adding gums and emulsifiers