Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Journal of Food Measurement and Characterization https://doi.org/10.1007/s11694-019-00307-0 ORIGINAL PAPER Efect of sorghum sourdough and nabag (zizyphus spina-christi) pulp powder on dough fermentation and quality characteristics of bread Emad Karrar 1,2  · Abubakr Musa 3  · Sujitraj Sheth 4  · Weining Huang 1  · Frederick Sarpong 3  · Xingguo Wang 1 Received: 11 May 2019 / Accepted: 15 October 2019 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract Sorghum sourdough made with lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and fruit products are of interest in the preparation of a variety of fermented baked products. In this study, diferent levels (10, 20, and 30%) of sorghum sourdough were fermented by a blend of L. plantarum and L. brevis and various levels of dry nabag pulp powder (1, 3, 5, and 7%). Physicochemical proper- ties of dough and bread as well as the sensory evaluation were determined. Sorghum sourdough’ pH decreased from 6.30 to 3.54, total titratable acidity (TTA) increased from 2.8 to 15 mL and bacteria count increased from 6.00E + 08 to 1.14E + 09, CFU/mL after 24 h of fermentation. The addition of sorghum sourdough and nabag powder progressively decreased pH and increased TTA values of bread and dough compared to the controls. Nabag powder signifcantly (p < 0.05) increased maximum dough fermentation height (Hm), compared to the control, however the other samples were lower (p < 0.05). The maximum gas fermentation height (H’m) and gas properties increased (p < 0.05) for all samples with diferent addition levels. Crust and crumb color were not afected by sorghum sourdough and nabag pulp powder except for 30% sorghum sourdough and 7% nabag pulp powder. These results showed sorghum sourdough and nabag pulp powder can be used in the bread formulations. Keywords Sorghum sourdough · Lactic acid bacteria · Nabag fruit · Dough fermentation · Baking characteristics · Bread quality Introduction Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) has great impor- tance among cereal grains globally [1] because of its high tolerance level to drought and harmonization with tropical and subtropical climate conditions. Sorghum ranks ffth among important cereal crops of the world and is widely used as a staple food for humans besides its usage as fodder for animals. Sweet sorghum is an emerging, potential can- didate to serve for biofuel production due to its vast adapt- ability, easy cultivation, and high yield potential. Intensive exploitation of its diverse germplasm in various breeding programs has led to improved syrup, grain and forage yield. Both stalk and grain of this crop can contribute to the energy sector such as 60 Mg ha −1 of fresh biomass can produce 5000 L ha −1 of ethanol [2–4]. The sugar and protein con- tent in sorghum is relatively higher when compared to other grains such as rice and corn. It is also a good source of antioxidants and phenolic compounds which can be used as a supplement to enhance antioxidant capacity of the wheat bread. Previous studies have focused on composite bread * Emad Karrar emadkarrar26@yahoo.com 1 State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Synergetic Innovation Center of Food Safety and Nutrition, Collaborative Innovation Center of Food Safety and Quality Control in Jiangsu Province, School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China 2 Department of Food Engineering and Technology, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Gezira, P.O. Box 20, Wad Medani, Sudan 3 School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang 212013, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China 4 Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China