Immobilization of kefir and Lactobacillus casei on brewery spent grains for use in sourdough wheat bread making

New types of bread were produced employing baker’s yeast, kefir or Lactobacillus casei immobilized on brewer’s spent grains. Bread was produced either by the straight-dough or the sourdough method. All the studied biocatalysts and their corresponding sourdoughs were found efficient for breadmaking. Good rising was achieved and the produced breads had good overall quality and remained fresher for longer, compared to commercial type baker’s yeast bread. The best results were obtained for sourdough breads, with higher moisture retention during baking, lower rates of water evaporation and staling, and maintenance of freshness for longer (4–5 days). Consumer evaluation showed bigger preference for the sourdough breads as far as aroma, taste and overall quality were concerned, justified by the GC-MS analysis of volatiles that revealed a different aroma profile, with more compounds identified than in breads produced by the straight-dough method, obviously due to variations in microbial populations.