Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) steep liquor as a leavening agent: Effect on dough rheology and sensory properties of bread

Abstract

Dough fermentation is one of the oldest process in food technologies. It has been recently intensively studied for its impact on the sensory, structural, nutritional and shelflife properties of leavened baked products. The goals of this work were to investigate chickpea steep liquor (CSL) as a dough-leavening agent and to study the effect of CSL onthe dough rheology and sensory properties of leavened bread. CSL was prepared by submerging chickpea seeds in boiled distilled water (1:2, w/v) for 24 h at 37°C, and thenobtained liquor was filtered and freeze-dried to obtain CSL. The addition of CSL to wheat flour (WF) brought changes in the dough mixing behavior as measured by thefarinograph. An increase in the farinograph water absorption of WF dough was observed when 4.5% CSL and 1.5% yeast was added, while arrival time was not affected. Additionof CSL to the dough at a content of 4.5, 9.0 and 13.5 g CSL/300 g WF caused an increase in dough stability. The CSL addition also increased mechanical tolerance index, doughweakening and mixing time. Dough development time for all blends was higher than the control (1.2-1.5 min), while between the CSL samples no significant difference wasobserved. The loaf weight slightly increased from 146.2 g for control to 152.2 g for CSLfermented bread, whereas the loaf volume and specific volume of CSL-fermented breadwere lower than the control. The combination of yeast and CSL increased the acceptability of bread with the increasing level of both leavening agents'. The results show thatCSL could be used as an alternative to yeast for syngas fermentation. On the other hand, CLS is rich in nutrients and lower in cost compared to yeast.