Sharing knowledge and building research to support the evolution of sourdough baking practices

Fermented products, such as bread, have been part of the human diet for thousands of years and are emblematic of the culture of many countries. Global changes and non-communicable diseases associated with modern diets have led to a renewed interest in fermented products and their local production, including sourdough bread.
In the face of standardisation and homogenisation of baking practices, the sustainability and development of the sourdough bakery sector needs to be based on several factors: the production of local cereals, the diversity of flours and milling types, the microbial diversity involved in fermentation, the need for knowledge about the factors involved in the nutritional and organoleptic values of sourdough bread.
Little is known about how the diversity of baking practices and the taxonomic diversity of sourdoughs can affect the functioning of the sourdough and the nutritional and organoleptic quality of breads.
The aim of this project, which brings together bakers, network leaders and researchers, is to share knowledge and questions about natural sourdough fermentation. Three questions will be explored during three participatory workshops: 1) the link between the microbial diversity of sourdoughs, fermentation and bread quality, 2) the link between sourdough maintenance practices and the microbiota of the sourdough, 3) the link between flour diversity, fermentation activity and bread quality.
This emergence phase will make it possible to draw up a consolidated project in which the research questions, the methodologies for the co-construction of knowledge, the measurement tools and the actions for disseminating the results will be specified.
In this way, we hope to support the development of the low-input natural sourdough bakery sector.