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Fermented Legumes as a Clean-Label Strategy for Shelf-Life Extension of Flatbread Under Modified Atmosphere
Simona Carbone1, Luana Nionelli2, Giuseppe Perri1
1Department of the Soil, Plant and Food Science DiSSPA, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Amendola, 165/a, 70126 Bari, Italy.
Abstract:
This study investigated fermentation-mediated antifungal activity across different legume matrices and their potential for extending the shelf life of legume-based bakery products. Chickpea, lentil, pea, and grass pea flours were fermented using selected lactic acid bacteria and yeasts. Water/salt-soluble fractions from fermented doughs were screened against bakery spoilage fungi, revealing marked substrate- and starter-dependent antifungal activity. The most promising formulations were incorporated into focaccia-type flatbreads and evaluated for 60 days under CO2/N2 modified atmosphere packaging at pilot scale. Compared with their non-fermented counterparts, grass pea fermented with Levilactobacillus brevis AM7 maintained mold populations below the detection limit (<2 Log CFU g-1) throughout storage, with visible mold detected in 5% of packages at day 60. Pea fermented with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 1A7 maintained mold populations below the detection limit up to day 45, with approximately 3% of packages showing visible mold at day 60. These two formulations showed the strongest antifungal performance among the fermented legume formulations, approaching the protection provided by the calcium propionate-containing wheat control, which showed the highest level of fungal protection. Fermentation partially mitigated the increase in hardness throughout storage, particularly in grass pea-based flatbreads. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of substrate-starter combinations in determining the antifungal performance of fermented legume ingredients and demonstrate their potential, when combined with modified atmosphere packaging, to improve the microbiological stability and shelf-life performance of selected legume-based flatbreads.
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