From wheat sourdough to gluten‐free sourdough: a non‐conventional process for producing gluten‐free bread

Summary Gluten‐free ( GF ) sourdough was prepared from wheat sourdough and analysed both in fresh ( GFS ) and dried forms ( DGFS ). The gluten content in each GF sourdough sample was <20 mg kg −1 . The dough leavening capacity and the properties of the bread samples were investigated and compared to those of bread prepared using bakery yeast ( Saccharomyces cerevisiae ). Two commercial rice‐based mixtures (different for the presence/absence of buckwheat flour) were used to prepare bread samples. In GFS , lactic acid bacteria ( LAB ) and yeasts were found in amounts corresponding to 10 8 and 10 7 CFU  g −1 , respectively, whereas both LAB and yeasts were detected in lower amounts (about 10 6 CFU  g −1 ) in DGFS . When used in bread‐making, both GFS types produced significant dough acidification and exhibited good dough development during proofing, resulting in loaves with specific volume values between 3.00 and 4.12 mL g −1 , values similar to those obtained for reference bread (3.05÷4.15 mL g −1 ). The use of GFS was effective in lowering the bread staling rate during storage for up to 7 days.