Abstract
Sourdough fermentation of bakery products is a well-established and widespread technique to confer an added value to the resulting food. In recent decades, gluten-free raw materials have gained more attention due to the diffusion of food disorders such as coeliac disease, but, at the same time, they present difficult manipulation and scarce technological properties because of the absence of gluten. For this reason, the present work was aimed at selecting starter cultures for sourdough application that are isolated from fermentation of sorghum flour. Three isolates of Lactobacillus fermentum, Weissella cibaria, and Weissella confusa were selected for the following properties: exopolysaccharide synthesis, acidification, CO2 production, and amylase activity. The investigated phenotypic characteristics were confirmed by genomic analyses, which also highlighted other potentially beneficial features for use in bakery products employment. These strains, together with bakery yeast, were used for bread preparation using sorghum and wheat flour and after 24 h of fermentation the resulting dough was analyzed to assess the improvement of its characteristics. The presence of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) had a great impact on the final dough, and the best preparation, from a rheological point of view, resulted in one made of sorghum and wheat flour with added LAB and bakery yeast, whose resulting characteristics were similar to all wheat flour doughs. The results of this study suggest a potential application of the selected starters in sorghum composite bread and should be validated with data from large-scale pilot tests conducted in industrial bakeries.
Highlights
It is well established that sourdough bread has a higher nutritional value as well as improved textural and sensory properties compared to yeast-leavened products [1,2,3]
The positive effects of sourdough are mainly due to the metabolic activities of the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) performing the fermentation, which result in increased content of bioactive compounds, increased absorption of vitamins and mineral bioavailability, and decreased glycemic response and antinutritional factor levels [4,5,6,7,8]
The proper selection of microorganisms to be used as starter cultures is of paramount importance in sourdough application, since it has a major influence on the characteristics of the final dough, along with the pH and temperature of fermentation
Summary
It is well established that sourdough bread has a higher nutritional value as well as improved textural and sensory properties compared to yeast-leavened products [1,2,3]. Taste, and sensory quality of sourdough bread, the use of sourdough fermentation for the manufacture of baked goods poses many challenges for the bakery industry due to the complexity and labor intensity of making and maintaining sourdough through daily refreshments and the long fermentation times required. New biotechnological approaches in sourdough bread production relying on the application of starter cultures have been proposed for the purpose of simplifying and shortening the fermentation process at the industrial level [19,20,21,22]. A study conducted in 2018 estimated that the global prevalence of coeliac disease varies between 1% and 2% in the general population [26]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
