Use of sourdough fermentation and mixture of wheat, chickpea, lentil and bean flours for enhancing the nutritional, texture and sensory characteristics of white bread Carlo Giuseppe Rizzello, Maria Calasso, Daniela Campanella, Maria De Angelis ⁎, Marco Gobbetti Department of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy abstract article info Article history: Received 30 January 2014 Received in revised form 12 March 2014 Accepted 2 April 2014 Available online 13 April 2014 Keywords: Wheat–legume bread Lactic acid bacteria Sourdough Nutritional and functional properties This study aimed at investigating the addition of legume (chickpea, lentil and bean) flours to wheat flour bread. Type I sourdough containing legumes or wheat–legume flours were prepared and propagated (back slopped) in laboratory, according to traditional protocols that are routinely used for making typical Italian breads. Based on kinetic of acidification and culture-dependent data, the wheat–legume sourdough was further characterized and selected for bread making. As determined by RAPD-PCR and partial sequencing of 16S rDNA gene analyses, lactic acid bacteria in wheat–legume sourdough included Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Lactobacillus fermentum, Weissella cibaria, Lactobacillus pentosus, Lactobacillus coryneformis, Lactobacillus rossiae, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus parabuchneri and Lactobacillus paraplantarum. Two breads containing 15% (w/w) of legume (chickpea, lentil and bean) flours were produced using selected wheat–legume sourdough (WLSB) and traditional wheat sourdough (WSB). Compared to wheat yeasted bread (WYB), the level of total free amino acids (FAA) was higher in WSB and WLSB. Phytase and antioxidant activities were the highest in WLSB. Compared to bread WYB, the addition of legume flours decreased the in vitro protein digestibility (IVPD) (WYB versus WSB). However, the dough fermentation with WSLB favored an increase of IVPD. According to the levels of carbohydrates, dietary fibers and resistant starch, WSB and WLSB showed lower values of hydrolysis index (HI) compared to WYB. As showed by texture and image analyses and sensory evaluation of breads, a good acceptability was found for WSB and, especially, WLSB breads. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction According to World Health Organization (WHO), nutritious foods may help to maintain the healthy state throughout the life. Pulses or legumes (e.g., chickpeas, lentils and beans) are important components of the daily diet, which mainly provide nutrients and functional com- pounds (Campos-Vega et al., 2010; Roy et al., 2010). Legume flours are an excellent source of proteins, carbohydrates and dietary fibers. Besides, legume flours provide many essential amino acids, vitamins, minerals, oligosaccharides and phenol compounds (Campos-Vega et al., 2010; Roy et al., 2010). The frequent consumption of legumes is considered as an effective tool to decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) (Flight and Clifton, 2006), type 2 diabetes (Jenkins et al., 2012), some types of cancer (Feregrino-Perez et al., 2008), overweight and obesity (Mollard et al., 2012). Instead of these potential beneficial effects, the world consumption of legumes is declining (Kohajdová et al., 2013) and is below than the recommended dose (McCrory et al., 2010). In United States, within the 30% of adults who consume legumes, only ca. 40–45% follows the recommended intake (Kimmons et al., 2009; McCrory et al., 2010). One way for increasing the consumption of legumes could be represented by their incorporation (e.g., beans) in novel, convenient and healthy food products (Gomez et al., 2008; Schneider, 2002). In particular, some reports proposed the addition of legumes (e.g., pea or chickpea) to bread (Dhinda et al., 2011; Kamaljit et al., 2010; Mohammed et al., 2012; Sadowska et al., 2003) and other bakery prod- uct formulas (chapatti, cakes, biscuits and cracker) (Eissa et al., 2007; Gomez et al., 2008; Kadam et al., 2012; Kohajdová et al., 2011; Tiwari et al., 2011). Recently, Kohajdová et al. (2013) evaluated the effect of len- til and bean flours on the rheological and baking properties of wheat dough. The addition of legume flours to the wheat bread merits special at- tention since the high level of bioactive compounds, which are present in legumes (e.g., fibers, essential amino acids), may complement some nu- tritional and functional properties and/or deficiencies of the cereal- based diet (Angioloni and Collar, 2012). When legume flours are used for bread making, the adjustment of several process parameters is needed International Journal of Food Microbiology 180 (2014) 78–87 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari Aldo Moro, via Amendola 165/a, 70126 Bari, Italy. Tel.: +39 080 5442946; fax: +39 080 5442911. E-mail address: maria.deangelis@uniba.it (M. De Angelis). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2014.04.005 0168-1605/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Food Microbiology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijfoodmicro