Use of Sourdough Fermentation and Nonwheat Flours for Enhancing Nutritional and Healthy Properties of Wheat-Based Foods

In addition to the development of technologies for producing wheat-based food with good nutritional profile, the use of alternative flours is also promising. The addition of nonwheat flours is a difficult task because of the absence of gluten and the presence of antinutritional compounds, despite the abundance of proteins, fibers, phenols, and minerals. With the aim of obtaining novel ingredients for healthy nonwheat-based food production, the effect of sourdough fermentation on legume, nonwheat cereals, pseudo-cereals, and cereal byproducts is currently under intense investigation. Sourdough bioprocessing is an important prerequisite for improving the nutritional properties of alternative flours in addition to improving technological features. Thanks to lactic-acid bacteria metabolism, the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of health-promoting compounds can be improved, exploiting more of the alternative flour potential.