Erica Pontonio
Assistant Professor
University of Bari Aldo Moro
Biography
Organic farming is gaining a broad recognition as sustainable system, and consumer demand for organic products has increased dramatically in the recent past. Whether organic agriculture delivers overall advantages over conventional agriculture is, however, contentious. Here, the safety, nutritional, and sensory implications of using commercial organic rye, soft, and durum wheat flours rather than conventional-made sourdough bread have been investigated. Culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches were used to explore the microbial architecture of flours and to study their dynamics during sourdough propagation. Besides biochemical features, the main nutritional (amino acid content, asparagine level, and antioxidant activity) characteristics of sourdoughs were investigated, and their effect on the structural, nutritional, and sensory profiles of breads assessed.
