Hydrocolloids from different sources have been increasingly
studied as breadmaking improvers to evaluate their effect on dough
and bread characteristics as well as product acceptability and
preservation. Among those hydrocolloids commonly used as food
additives, modified celluloses and pectins have been mainly
applied in beverages, desserts and dairy products. An interesting
aspect of these hydrocolloids is that they are obtained by chemical
modification of native polysaccharides from plants and their
structure (particularly in the case of celluloses) can be tailor-made
in order to obtain derivatives with different physicochemical
properties. Besides, they are obtained from relatively economical,
renewable sources. In spite of their extended use as food additives,
their application in breadmaking is less extended respect to other
hydrocolloids and bread improvers.