Linking the field-cereal-flour-sourdough-bread axis to microbial species diversity
Custom Labelled Veld 1
MSCA-2020-LDVust01
Custom Labelled Veld 2
Beschrijving van het project
Artisan bakery sourdoughs are characterized by a typical microbiota, often determined by the house microbiota, the flour and/or ingredients used, as well as the process conditions applied. Moreover, it has been shown that organic cereal production influences the development of the sourdough microbiota. Evidently, the flour is fundamental regarding nutrient availability and physicochemical parameters for the establishment of stable microbial consortia within a short fermentation period, so that only those species and/or strains that are very well adapted to the sourdough ecosystem will thrive. Competitiveness may thus, at least partially, explain the association of certain lactic acid bacteria species and/or strains with specific sourdough fermentation processes and bakery conditions. However, other factors may play a role as well, such as the agricultural practices involved and flour production. This research project will examine the field-cereal-flour-sourdough-bread axis, making use of both microbiological (culture- dependent and culture-independent methods) and metabolomic analyses.
Custom Labelled Veld 4
Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology
Functional starter cultures for improved food quality, safety and healthiness
The research of the Research Group of Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (IMDO) deals with the qualitative and quantitative study of the species diversity, community dynamics, and meta-metabolomics of fermented food ecosystems (fermented dairy products, fermented sausages, sourdough, cocoa, coffee and other fermented fruits, fermented vegetables, acidic beers, and water kefir). Further, the genomics, microbial physiology and modelling of fermentations with food-grade microorganisms, i.e. lactic acid bacteria (LAB), acetic acid bacteria (AAB), coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) and yeasts are studied. Also, the human colon fermentation process involving bifidobacteria, lactobacilli, and propionic acid/butyric acid-producing colon bacteria is studied in view of the bifidogenic, butyrogenic and/or propionogenic effects of inulin-type fructans and arabinoxylans. The fundamental aims of these studies are to unravel, by means of state-of-the-art technologies, why certain microorganisms prevail in certain microbial ecosystems and how their competitiveness and functionality in these ecosystems can be explained biochemically and molecularly. The ultimate purpose of these studies is the development of new, functional starter cultures, co-cultures, bio-protective cultures and health-promoting cultures for a controlled and/or steered fermentation process of milk, meat, cereals, cocoa beans, coffee berries, raw vegetables, tropical fruits, sour wort, etc., with respect to food safety, food quality (organoleptic properties such as texture and flavour) and authenticity, and the development of new functional food ingredients (in casu pro- and prebiotics). IMDO occupies a unique position in industrial food biotechnology research in Flanders and abroad in that it possesses the competences to combine field experiments, isolations, identifications, functionality studies (focusing on quantitative analyses and including modelling expertise) and applications in one laboratory facility, which gives the research group a particular competitive advantage and freedom-to-operate.