Lactic acid bacteria as bio-preservatives in bakery – Role of sourdough systems in the quality, safety and shelf life of bread

Microbial contamination and survival during storage of bread are a cause of both health concerns and economic losses. Traditional fermentation systems were studied as sources of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with antagonistic potential against foodborne pathogens and spoilage organisms, with the aim to improve the safety and shelf life of bakery products. The antagonistic activity of four types of buttermilk (BM) products fermented with Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis was evaluated against a number of pathogenic bacteria to select the best fermented-BM for application as bio-preservatives in bread crumpets, showing up to 9 µg/ml of nisin equivalent antimicrobial activity. These food ingredients could be suitable to be used in crumpet formulations, BM fermented with Lc. lactis subsp. lactis and nisin influenced the quality and shelf life of crumpets; the pH value and firmness of products with fermented BM was lower and the acidity and springiness was higher than for unfermented BM treatment and control withouth additive. The nisin and fermented BM treatment had beneficial effects on the pore size and colour in comparison with the control, and improved microbial shelf life by 2 days. Commercial and traditional sourdough and bread samples (n=18) were collected to assess the diversity of LAB strains and potential properties when applied to dough and bread. DGGE followed by sequencing showed that Lactobacillus was the predominant genus in the studied sourdoughs. Lb. plantarum and Lb. brevis strains accounted for 69% of the 32 isolates, out of which 10 were amylolytic and 12 had proteolytic activity. Most were also good acid producers after 24 h at 30°C. Some LAB strains presented a strong in vitro inhibitory activity against five indicator strains, showing potential as starter cultures to ferment sourdough. In subsequent experiments, the properties of 24 sourdoughs were evaluated, and one of them, fermented with Lb. plantarum (SIN3) yielded low pH value, high lactic acid production, and suitable microbial growth, and was selected for further bread making performance trials. The bread with fast fermentation and high sourdough concentration (FFHSD) had a lower pH, higher acidity and increased the quality attributes with significantly better shelf life comparing to the other treatments during the storage period. Sensory evaluation demonstrated that fast-fermented breads were more acceptable than the slow-fermented counterparts. Bread prepared with high level (18%) of sourdough fast-fermented with the selected culture (SIN3) had a good eating quality and shelf life. The approach of this study is likely to yield feasible improvements of the current methods of preparation of baking goods.