Abstract
The practice of sourdough bread-making is an ancient science that involves the development, maintenance, and use of a diverse and complex starter culture. The sourdough starter culture comes in many different forms and is used in bread-making at both artisanal and commercial scales, in countries all over the world. While there is ample scientific research related to sourdough, there is no standardized approach to using sourdough starters in science or the bread industry; and there are few recommendations on future directions for sourdough research. Our review highlights what is currently known about the microbial ecosystem of sourdough (including microbial succession within the starter culture), methods of maintaining sourdough (analogous to land management) on the path to bread production, and factors that influence the sensory qualities of the final baked product. We present new hypotheses for the successful management of sourdough starters and propose future directions for sourdough research and application to better support and engage the sourdough baking community.
Highlights
Bread-making is an ancient craft that dates back nearly 14,400 years to Neolithic Asia (Arranz-Otaegui et al, 2018) and ancient civilizations from the 26th century BCE (Seibel, 1994; Wood, 1996; Diowksz & Ambroziak, 2007)
Sourdough starters are initiated by allowing bacteria and yeast to colonize and grow in a mixture of water and flour, where they digest carbohydrates to produce a range of compounds that contribute to bread attributes (Hammes & Gänzle, 1998; Carrizo et al, 2016; Carrizo et al, 2017)
We propose that future works aim to identify which modes of metabolism dominate under specific conditions, and how different metabolisms lead to observable sensory qualities in sourdough products
Summary
Bread-making is an ancient craft that dates back nearly 14,400 years to Neolithic Asia (Arranz-Otaegui et al, 2018) and ancient civilizations from the 26th century BCE (Seibel, 1994; Wood, 1996; Diowksz & Ambroziak, 2007). The specific microbial taxa present in a sourdough starter, and all the dimensions of their biodiversity, can depend on increases and decreases in populations of particular species due to stochastic (random) rather than deterministic factors. They depend on dispersal processes (Vellend, 2010) associated with which species and strains happen to colonize a starter initially (Gänzle & Ripari, 2016). The processes most relevant to bakers are those that are deterministic and associated with niche-related processes These processes are influenced by conditions intrinsic to the starter itself, including the ingredients (e.g., flour and water) and the recipe. They are influenced by extrinsic factors, such as baking practices, storage temperature, the amount of starter used during propagation, the number of propagation steps, and fermentation time
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