Our scientists are developing a unique leaven

Bulgarian scientists are developing a unique leaven for sourdough, which can be used to produce bread with an extended shelf life without preservatives, announced the state milk processing company "LB Bulgaricum" on its website, BTA reported.

In addition to being completely natural, the bread from this dough would also have a softer and more aromatic middle, a crispier crust, a larger volume and a more pleasant aroma and taste compared to bread obtained without the addition of sourdough.< br />
What is the new type of sourdough?

The new type of sourdough is designed to be able to be used with different types of flour – wheat, barley, corn, buckwheat, etc. Specialists proceed from the fact that bread is a food product with a short shelf life, which is why its longer storage is of utmost importance. They concluded that the best approach to bread preservation, also meeting the consumer demand to avoid chemical preservatives and extend the shelf life by using natural substances, is the addition of sourdough. It contains selected symbiotic combinations of homo- and heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria and yeast.

The origin of the idea

The development of the University of Food Technologies in Plovdiv became an occasion for expanding cooperation between scientists from the university and the research center of "LB Bulgaricum". During the research, a team from UHT, led by Prof. Ph.D. Zapryana Denkova isolated bacterial cultures obtained during the spontaneous fermentation of different types of flour. At the next stage, together with researchers from "LB Bulgaricum", a precise species identification of each of the newly isolated strains is carried out.

"LB Bulgaricum" is the only state-owned dairy company that successfully maintains its own scientific and research department. Highly qualified researchers specializing in the world of lactic acid bacteria and lactic acid products work in the research and development center," commented Dr. Zoltan Urshev, one of its scientists. He believes that regardless of whether the scientific activity is carried out in an academic or industrial organization, the general logic of work is the same, which is why the exchange of information and cooperation between researchers from different organizations is of particular importance.

"This applies even more to a small country like Bulgaria, where the resources invested in science are limited and combining them in separate joint projects leads to greater efficiency of the funds spent,", the scientist said and added , that this is also the reason why the team of "LB Bulgaricum" to always seek and respond to proposals for joint work with various academic organizations.