Abstract
The growing consumers’ request for foods with well-balanced nutritional profile and functional properties promotes research on innovation in pasta making. As a staple food and a common component of diet, pasta can be considered as a vector of dietary fiber, vegetable proteins, vitamins, minerals, and functional compounds. The conventional process for pasta production does not include a fermentation step. However, novel recipes including sourdough-fermented ingredients have been recently proposed, aiming at enhancing the nutritional and functional properties of this product and at enriching commercial offerings with products with new sensorial profiles. The use of sourdough for pasta fortification has been investigated under several aspects, including fortification in vitamin B, the reduction of starch digestibility, and gluten content. Sourdough fermentation has also been successfully applied to non-conventional flours, (e.g., from pseudocereals and legumes), in which an overall increase of the nutritional value and health-promoting compounds, such as a significant decrease of antinutritional factors, were observed. Fermented non-conventional flours, obtained through spontaneous fermentation or using selected starters, have been proposed as pasta ingredients. As the result of wheat replacement, modification in textural properties of pasta may occur. Nonetheless, fermentation represents an efficient tool in improving, besides nutritional and functional profile, the sensory and technological features of fortified pasta.
Highlights
The growing consumers’ request for foods with well-balanced nutritional profile and functional properties promotes research on innovation in pasta making
True protein digestibility (TD) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) markedly improved (6 and 73%, respectively) in pasta fortified with fermented pigeon pea as consequence of the complementarity of amino acids composition deriving from legumes and cereal proteins [70,81]
The microstructure analysis revealed a worsening of the technological properties of pasta occurring when the replacement percentage of semolina with fermented faba bean was higher than 30% [51]
Summary
Sourdough fermentation is one of the oldest biotechnologies widely employed in food production, as it converts cereal flour into attractive, palatable, and digestible products. Fermentation by LAB is considered a natural, sustainable, and effective tool for ensuring proper hygiene, rheology, sensory, and shelf life features, while simultaneously improving the functional/nutritional value of the food matrix [2]. The effects of sourdough fermentation are related to organic acids synthesis: the activation of the endogenous enzymes of the flour as well as the synthesis of microbial secondary metabolites, contribute to relevant changes of the fermented matrix, and affect the properties of the final products [3]. Sourdough biotechnology is considered a promising answer to modern consumers’ demand for natural foods with improved nutritional and functional value; the extension of sourdough application to products different from leavened baked goods and widely consumed like pasta, represents a new opportunity for the food industry
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