RT Dissertation/Thesis T1 Impact of process parameters on the sourdough microbiota, selection of suitable starter strains, and description of the novel yeast Cryptococcus thermophilus sp. nov. A1 Vogelmann,Stephanie Anke WP 2013/11/28 AB The microbiota of a ripe sourdough consists of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), especially of the genus Lactobacillus, and yeasts. Their composition is influenced by the interplay of species or strains, the kind of substrate as well as the process parameters temperature, dough yield, redox potential, refreshment time, and number of propagation steps (Hammes and Gänzle, 1997). As taste and quality of sourdough breads are mainly influenced by the fermentation microbiota, intense research has been focused on determination of sourdough associated species and search for new starter cultures. In recent years, economic competition pressure and new consumer demands have led to steady research for new cereal products, especially with health benefit or for people suffering from celiac disease. For these reasons, alternative cereals like oat and barley (both toxic for celiac disease patients) as well as the celiac disease compatible cereals rice and maize, sorghum and millets, the pseudocereals amaranth, quinoa and buckwheat as well as cassava got into the focus of interest. However, information about the microbiota of sourdoughs fermented with buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa, oat or barley is not available except for the following recent studies: a study about the microbiota of amaranth sourdoughs by Sterr et al. (2009), a study about barley sourdough by Zannini et al. (2009), a study about oat sourdoughs by Huettner et al. (2010) and a study about buckwheat and teff sourdoughs by Moroni et al. (2011). The microbiota of sourdoughs from the other mentioned cereals as well as cassava was multiply characterised but not systematically. Fermentation conditions were partly not clearly defined, and identification of species was often based on physiological criteria only, known to be insufficient for the exact classification of LAB. Thus, in this thesis, the influence of the process parameters substrate, temperature, refreshment time, amount of backslopping dough as well as the interplay between the different species or strains were examined and potential starter strains were selected. In Chapter III, the effect of the substrate on the sourdough microbiota was examined and suitable starter cultures for fermentation of non-bread cereals and pseudocereals were selected. Eleven different flours from wheat, rye, oat, barley, millet, rice, maize, amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat and cassava were inoculated with a starter mixture containing numerous LAB and yeasts. Sourdoughs were fermented at 30 °C and refreshed every 24 hours until the microbiota was stable. Species were identified by PCR-DGGE as well as bacteriological culture and RAPD-PCR, followed by 16S/26S rRNA sequence analysis. In these fermentations, the dominant yeast was Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Issatchenkia (I.) orientalis was only competitive in the quinoa and the maize sourdough. No yeasts were found in the buckwheat and the oat sourdough. The dominant LAB species were Lactobacillus (L.) paralimentarius in the pseudocereal sourdoughs, L. fermentum, L. helveticus and L. pontis in the cereal sourdoughs, and L. fermentum, L. plantarum and L. spicheri in the cassava sourdough. Competitive LAB and yeasts were inserted as starters for a further fermentation using new flours from rice, maize, millet and the pseudocereals. After ten days of fermentation, most of the starter strains were still dominant, but L. pontis and L. helveticus could not compete with the other species. It is remarkable that from the numerous starter strains which all were adapted to or isolated from sourdoughs, only a few were competitive in these fermentations; but if, then in most cases in a lot of different flours. In Chapter IV, the effects of the exogenous process parameters substrate, refreshment time, temperature, amount of backslopping dough as well as competing species on the two microbial associations L. sanfranciscensis ? Candida (C.) humilis and L. reuteri ? L. johnsonii ? I. orientalis were examined. Both associations had previously been found to be competitive in sourdough (Kline and Sugihara, 1971a; Nout and Creemers-Molenaar, 1987; Gobbetti et al., 1994a; Garofalo et al., 2008; Böcker et al., 1990; Meroth et al., 2003a). 28 sourdough batches were fermented under defined conditions until the microbiota was stable. Dominant LAB and yeasts were characterized by bacteriological culture, RAPD-PCR and 16S/26S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The process parameters for the association L. sanfranciscensis ? C. humilis could be defined as follows: rye bran, rye flour or wheat flour as substrate, temperatures between 20 and 30 °C, refreshment times of 12 to 24 hours and amounts of backslopping dough from 5 to 20 %. In addition, the association was predominating against all competing lactic acid bacteria and yeasts. The association L. reuteri ? L. johnsonii ? I. orientalis was competitive at temperatures of 35 to 40 °C, refreshment times of 12 to 24 hours and the substrates rye bran, wheat flour and rye flour, but only with sufficient oxygen supply. Cell counts of I. orientalis fell rapidly under the detection limit when using high amounts of doughs (small ratio of surface to volume) and refreshment times of 12 hours. The fermentations depicted in Chapter III and IV give new information about the influence of process parameters on the sourdough microbiota. The studies show that the sourdough microbiota is markedly influenced by the process parameters and kind and quality of substrate. The competitiveness of a single LAB or yeast is strain specific. Interactions between microorganisms also play an important role. However, for the search for suitable starter strains, it would be beneficial to know the reasons, why a single LAB or yeast strain is better adapted to specific process parameters or substrates than others. One of the starter sourdoughs used for fermentation I described in Chapter III was a sourdough made from cassava flour, inoculated with several LAB. No yeast had been inserted, but several yeasts were isolated from the ripe sourdough, which are supposed to originate from the cassava flour. An unknown yeast species constituted 10 % of the isolated yeasts which is described as novel species Cryptococcus thermophilus sp. nov. in Chapter V. This yeast is characterized by budding on small neck-like structures, no fermentative ability, growth at 42 °C and without vitamins, a major ubiquinone of Q-10, as well as the production of green or blue fluorescent substances in the growth medium. It is distinct from related species by the ability to assimilate raffinose and cadaverine, the inability to assimilate soluble starch, xylitol, galactitol, butane-2,3-diol, sodium nitrite and lysine, and the inability to produce starch-like substances. The closest relatives are the yeasts belonging to the Cryptococcus humicola complex. K1 Sauerteig K1 Mikroflora K1 Milchsäurebakterien K1 Hefen K1 Wettbewerbsfähigkeit K1 Pseudocerealien K1 glutenfreies Produkt K1 Fermentation PP Hohenheim PB Kommunikations-, Informations- und Medienzentrum der Universität Hohenheim UL http://opus.uni-hohenheim.de/volltexte/2013/888