# Properties and Functionality of Cereal Non-Starch Polysaccharides in Breadmaking
## 4 The Role of NSPs in Bread Making  
### The Influence of NSPs on the Water Absorption of Flour  
Flour water absorption is an important parameter determining the amount of water bound by flour ingredients, including, in particular, starch, NSPs, and proteins [160]. NSPs affect the water absorption of flour due to their high water-binding capacity [161]. In studies conducted to date (Table 3), it has been shown that the addition of AXs to wheat, rye, and gluten-free dough (in amounts up to 6%) significantly increases water addition to dough needed to obtain the same optimal consistency [83,155]. It has also been shown that the effect of AXs on flour water absorption depends on the structural characteristics of AXs, such as the degree of branching, A/X ratio, the degree of substitution with ferulic acid molecules and cross-linking, and their molar mass [9,83,154,162]. However,there is a lack of information on comparing the effect of structural properties and molar mass of AXs on the water absorption of wheat flour during dough making by direct and sourdough methods. As shown in Table 3, after adding AXs in the amount of 0.5% to rye dough, it bound 1-5% more water [163]. After adding AXs in the amount of 1% to rye flour type 1150 and 720, these flours bound 2.5% and 8% more water, respectively. However, after adding AXs in the amount of 2%, they bound 8% and 19% more water, respectively [71]. The addition of AXs in the amount of 0.5-1.3% resulted in increased water absorption of wheat flour by 11-13% [134]. The addition of \(\beta\)-glucans to the dough for wheat bread (in the amount of up to 1.4%) resulted in an increase in the water absorption of the flour by up to 5-13%, compared to the flour without the addition of polysaccharides [164]. The addition of \(\beta\)-glucans in the amount of 2.5-10% to wheat flour increased its water absorption from 6% to 19%, compared to bread without the addition of polysaccharides [165]. The addition of \(\beta\)-glucans in the amount of 0.8-1.2% to wheat bread increased the water absorption of the flour by 9-16% [166]. The water absorption of dough is also influenced by arabinagalactans [167] and galactomannans [168,169].The addition of galactomannans in the amount of 5-10% to wheat bread increased the water absorption of the flour by 18.5-35.5% [168]. In the available literature, there is a lack of comparison of the effect of various NSPs of different molar masses on water absorption determined under standardized conditions. The studies conducted so far concerned the characteristics and assessment of the effect of individual polysaccharides on the baking properties, and the use of different conditions for dough preparation and bread baking by different authors makes it impossible to compare the effect of individual polysaccharides. Some NSPs are acidic polysaccharides (containinguronic acids in the molecules), whose effect during the preparation of the dough and baking can be very different, depending on the pH of the environment and on the baking technology used. However, the role of acidic polysaccharides in baking has not been thoroughly investigated.