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you,” he said. “It becomes a playground
to explore.”
Saunders has heard of sourdough
cultures still in circulation dating back to
the gold rush, though one can be baking
with a newly created sourdough starter
within a few days. However, it depends
on the culture, and he said it can take
up to two weeks to develop a healthy
culture with a so-called “wild starter”
utilizing wild yeast, as opposed to
domesticated/cultivated yeast one might
buy when making beer.
The sourdough fermentation process
may convert wheat proteins to a point
where people with gluten intolerance
can handle them, Gänzle said, but
sourdough bread is still not safe for
people with celiac disease. Research
published in 2009 in the journal
Food
Microbiology
and tests published in 2011
by researchers at the University of Naples
suggested sourdough fermentation
could be a way for people with celiac
disease or gluten intolerance to safely eat
certain bread products.
But the Naples study, published in
Applied and Environmental Microbiology
,
also acknowledged that long-term effects
still need to be studied. Responding
to such research, those involved in
promoting awareness of celiac disease,
an autoimmune condition, agree with
Gänzle, and say no level of gluten is safe.
“The truth is there is serious research
going on and no answer yet,” said Janet
Dalziel, past president of the Canadian
Celiac Association. “But for anything
to be labelled gluten-free in Canada, it
cannot contain any protein from wheat,
rye, barley and oats.” Making matters
even more complex, she said, is the fact
gluten-free standards differ between
countries. “The Americans only recently
got a definition on gluten-free from the
FDA.” The main difference, Dalziel said,
is the Food and Drug Administration
currently does not include oats on its list
of prohibited grains.
That said, there are still options for
making sourdough using gluten-free
ingredients. The website celiac.com, for
example, offers a recipe for a sourdough
starter that utilizes rice flour.
Gänzle says fermentation is an option for
those who are simply sensitive to gluten.
“Someone who doesn’t tolerate
plain bread well will possibly tolerate
sourdough bread because the protein is
more digestible,” he explained.
And there are health benefits to
sourdough.
“There is some research that came
out that wheat-flour sourdough bread
has the properties of a low-glycemic-
index food,” said Alan Dumonceaux,
chair of the baking program at NAIT.
“This is because of the metabolism—
the degradation of the proteins in the
sourdough culture. It’s changing it from a
high- to a low-glycemic-index food.”
Fermenting also causes minerals within
the bread to be more readily absorbed,
said Gänzle, because it degrades the
amount of phytates in the bread and
lets the body absorb more of its natural
vitamins and minerals.
Saunders said fermentation also
produces vitamin B.
“One thing about fermentation is you
have a higher amount of enzymes and
friendly flora bacteria—we’re always
needing and looking for sources to
replenish them,” he said. “Antibiotics
and chemicals in food tend to diminish
those populations. But fermented food is
a source to replenish that—it’s a basis of
our digestion.”
Dumonceaux said many kinds of grain
can be used in fermenting, with different
blends producing different flavours, such
as rye, purple wheat and red fife.
“Every flour will give it character,”
he said.
NAIT's chair of baking, Alan Dumonceaux, knows the
power of fermentation. This process helps turn wheat
flour into sourdough bread, a product that is low on
the glycemic index.
The Food Issue
2014
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