Sourdoughs for bread-making with barley flour: sensory and technological evaluation of barley breads

A renewed interest in barley based food has been observed throughout the world because of the high nutritional value of this cereal. Barley is rich in antioxidants, lysine, essential vitamins, minerals, and 􀁊-glucans (the latter was shown to lower blood cholesterol levels and glycemic index). Consumption of wholegrain barley foods seem to be even associated with increased satiety and weight loss. In spite of these nutritional/functional properties, up to now barley has been exploited only marginally by the baking industry, due to its low ability to form a gluten network. Moreover, the use of sourdough to improve baking and sensory properties of barley bread has only been partially explored. In a previous study, three sourdoughs (SW, SB, SWB) were produced by introducing a defined lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yeast multi-strain starter culture into three doughs made of different percentages of wheat and barley flours (100% wheat, 100% barley, 50% wheat plus 50% barley).The composition of the microbiota of the three stable sourdoughs was investigated through a polyphasic approach including PCR-DGGE and LAB viable counting, followed by wild strains isolation, identification, and molecular typing (Zannini et al., 2009). In the present study, the same sourdoughs were characterized from a technological point of view, and the corresponding breads (BW, BB, and BWB) were compared on the basis of their physico-chemical and sensory properties, just after baking and during shelf life (6 days). In addition, flours, sourdoughs, doughs and breads were evaluated for their phytate and 􀈕-glucan content to follow their break down during processing. Some significant differences were seen between the two barley breads (BB and BWB) and BW, with BB exhibiting the lowest specific volume and the highest moisture. Interestingly, no significant differences among samples for crumb density, elasticity, dryness, stickiness, sweetness, and overall acceptability were perceived until the end of shelf life thus confirming the possibility of a successful exploitation of barley sourdoughs in baking industry.