Thirty years of knowledge on sourdough fermentation: A systematic review

Abstract Background Sourdough is one of the oldest examples of natural starters, mostly used for making fermented baked goods as an alternative to baker's yeast and chemical leavening. Almost 30 years of research have accumulated showing its performance. Time is mature to elaborate collectively these data and to draw conclusions, which would represent milestones for scientists, industries and consumers. Scope and approach With the scope of highlighting its microbiological, biochemical, technological and nutritional potential, we used "sourdough" as the only keyword and the PRISMA flow diagram to retrieve, select and systematically review 1230 peer reviewed research articles from four databases (Google Scholar, Scopus, PubMed and ScienceDirect). Key findings and conclusions The literature states that sourdough baked goods underwent characterization in almost 50 countries and all continents, mainly dealing with salty (breads and substitutes) and sweet products. Converging data defined optimal use conditions, most common microbiological and biochemical characteristics, criteria for selecting and re-using starters, and versatility of sourdough for making baked goods with a relevant number of flour species/varieties and agro-food by-products. Because of the unique microbial composition and functionality, sourdough has claimed as an irreplaceable starter for improving the sensory, rheology and shelf life attributes of baked goods. The most recent literature showed how the sourdough fermentation mainly increased mineral bioavailability, enabled fortification with dietary fibers, lowered glycemic index, improved protein digestibility and decreased the content of anti-nutritional factors. This knowledge is solid for delivering to industries and consumers, and to face new research challenges starting from a consolidated state of the art

Strategies for enacting health policy codesign: a scoping review and direction for research

Abstract Background Strategies for supporting evidence-informed health policy are a recognized but understudied area of policy dissemination and implementation science. Codesign describes a set of strategies potentially well suited to address the complexity presented by policy formation and implementation. We examine the health policy literature describing the use of codesign in initiatives intended to combine diverse sources of knowledge and evidence in policymaking. Methods The search included PubMed, MEDLINE, PsychInfo, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Google Scholar in November 2022 and included papers published between 1996 and 2022. Terms included codesign, health, policy, and system terminology. Title and abstracts were reviewed in duplicate and included if efforts informed policy or system-level decision-making. Extracted data followed scoping review guidelines for location, evaluation method, health focus, codesign definition, description, level of health system user input, sectors involved, and reported benefits and challenges. Results From 550 titles, 23 citations describing 32 policy codesign studies were included from multiple continents (Australia/New Zealand, 32%; UK/Europe, 32%; South America, 14%; Africa, 9%; USA/Canada 23%). Document type was primarily case study (77%). The area of health focus was widely distributed. Policy type was more commonly little p policy (47%), followed by big p policy (25%), and service innovations that included policy-enabled funding (25%). Models and frameworks originated from formal design (e.g., human-centered or participatory design (44%), political science (38%), or health service research (16%). Reported outcomes included community mobilization (50%), policy feasibility (41%), improved multisector alignment (31%), and introduction of novel ideas and critical thinking (47%). Studies engaging policy users in full decision-making roles self-reported higher levels of community mobilization and community needs than other types of engagement. Discussion Policy codesign is theoretically promising and is gaining interest among diverse health sectors for addressing the complexity of policy formation and implementation. The maturity of the science is just emerging. We observed trends in the association of codesign strategies and outcomes that suggests a research agenda in this area could provide practical insights for tailoring policy codesign to respond to local contextual factors including values, needs, and resources

Role of Lactic Acid Bacteria Phospho-β-Glucosidases during the Fermentation of Cereal by-Products

Bioprocessing using lactic acid bacteria (LAB) is a powerful means to exploit plant-derived by-products as a food ingredient. LAB have the capability to metabolize a large variety of carbohydrates, but such metabolism only relies on few metabolic routes, conferring on them a high fermentation potential. One example of these pathways is that involving phospho-β-glucosidase genes, which are present in high redundancy within LAB genomes. This enzymatic activity undertakes an ambivalent role during fermentation of plant-based foods related to the release of a wide range of phenolic compounds, from their β-D-glycosylated precursors and the degradation of β-glucopyranosyl derived carbohydrates. We proposed a novel phenomic approach to characterize the metabolism drift of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides caused by a lignocellulosic by-product, such as the brewers’ spent grain (BSG), in contrast to Rich De Man, Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) broth. We observed an increased metabolic activity for gentiobiose, cellobiose and β-glucoside conjugates of phenolic compounds during BSG fermentation. Gene expression analysis confirmed the importance of cellobiose metabolism while a release of lignin-derived aglycones was found during BSG fermentation. We provided a comprehensive view of the important role exerted by LAB 6-phospho-β-glucosidases as well the major metabolic routes undertaken during plant-based fermentations. Further challenges will consider a controlled characterization of pbg gene expression correlated to the metabolism of β-glucosides with different aglycone moieties

Unlocking circular supply chain 4.0: identifying key barriers through bibliometrics and TISM-MICMAC

Purpose: This paper examines the dynamic interplay between Circular Economy (CE) and Supply Chain (SC). Further, this paper develops a framework indicating the transition from conventional SC to SC 4.0. As it addresses the separate bodies of literature on CE and SC 4.0, the study attempts to bridge the gap by examining barriers to SC 4.0 adoption in CE. Design/methodology: The article integrates bibliometric analysis with Total Interpretive Structural Modeling (TISM) and MICMAC analysis, thereby enriching the methodological rigour in investigating the barriers to SC 4.0 adoption within the CE context. Findings: The paper provides insights into research trends, influential scholars, journals and prominent institutions through bibliometric analysis. Also, the findings identify four broad areas of driving, autonomous, linkage and dependent barriers to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of their impact and interdependencies. Research limitations/implications: The findings imply that effective policy interventions, enhanced management practices, and the adoption of technological innovations are essential for overcoming barriers to SC 4.0. The research recommends that stakeholders focus on fostering collaborative networks, building competencies in line with CE requirements, and leveraging big data for strategic supply chain decision-making. Originality/ Value: This work contributes to the advancement of the circular digital supply field by consolidating research streams, uncovering innovation prospects, and shaping a well-informed research agenda. The distinct contribution lies in its categorization of these barriers into driving, autonomous, linkage, and dependent barriers, offering a novel perspective on the structural dynamics impeding the integration of SC 4.0 in CE

Commercial Organic Versus Conventional Whole Rye and Wheat Flours for Making Sourdough Bread: Safety, Nutritional, and Sensory Implications

Organic farming is gaining a broad recognition as sustainable system, and consumer demand for organic products has increased dramatically in the recent past. Whether organic agriculture delivers overall advantages over conventional agriculture is, however, contentious. Here, the safety, nutritional, and sensory implications of using commercial organic rye, soft, and durum wheat flours rather than conventional-made sourdough bread have been investigated. Culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches were used to explore the microbial architecture of flours and to study their dynamics during sourdough propagation. Besides biochemical features, the main nutritional (amino acid content, asparagine level, and antioxidant activity) characteristics of sourdoughs were investigated, and their effect on the structural, nutritional, and sensory profiles of breads assessed. Overall, the organic farming system led to flours characterized by lower content of asparagine and cell density of Enterobacteriaceae while showing higher concentration of total free amino acids. Differences of the flours mirrored those of sourdoughs and breads. The use of sourdough fermentation guaranteed a further improvement of the flour characteristics; however, a microbial and sensory profile simplification as well as a slight decrease of the biochemical parameters was observed between breads with sourdough after one-cycle fermentation and 10 days of propagation

Amino-Terminal Fusion of Epidermal Growth Factor 4,5,6 Domains of Human Thrombomodulin on Streptokinase Confers Anti-Reocclusion Characteristics along with Plasmin-Mediated Clot Specificity

<div><p>Streptokinase (SK) is a potent clot dissolver but lacks fibrin clot specificity as it activates human plasminogen (HPG) into human plasmin (HPN) throughout the system leading to increased risk of bleeding. Another major drawback associated with all thrombolytics, including tissue plasminogen activator, is the generation of transient thrombin and release of clot-bound thrombin that promotes reformation of clots. In order to obtain anti-thrombotic as well as clot-specificity properties in SK, cDNAs encoding the EGF 4,5,6 domains of human thrombomodulin were fused with that of streptokinase, either at its N- or C-termini, and expressed these in <i>Pichia pastoris</i> followed by purification and structural-functional characterization, including plasminogen activation, thrombin inhibition, and Protein C activation characteristics. Interestingly, the N-terminal EGF fusion construct (EGF-SK) showed plasmin-mediated plasminogen activation, whereas the C-terminal (SK-EGF) fusion construct exhibited ‘spontaneous’ plasminogen activation which is quite similar to SK i.e. direct activation of systemic HPG in absence of free HPN. Since HPN is normally absent in free circulation due to rapid serpin-based inactivation (such as alpha-2-antiplasmin and alpha-2-Macroglobin), but selectively present in clots, a plasmin-dependent mode of HPG activation is expected to lead to a desirable fibrin clot-specific response by the thrombolytic. Both the N- and C-terminal fusion constructs showed strong thrombin inhibition and Protein C activation properties as well, and significantly prevented re-occlusion in a specially designed assay. The EGF-SK construct exhibited fibrin clot dissolution properties with much-lowered levels of fibrinogenolysis, suggesting unmistakable promise in clot dissolver therapy with reduced hemorrhage and re-occlusion risks.</p></div

SDS-PAGE analysis of different purified proteins in 10% acrylamide gels.

<p>In Fig 1A) Lane 1 shows standard molecular weight markers; lane 2, purified SK with molecular weight of ~ 47 KDa; lane 3, Purified EGF-SK; lane 4, SK-EGF which shows molecular weight above the expected 66 KDa, likely due to <i>P</i>. <i>pastoris</i> glycosylation in the EGF4,5,6 domains which contains two N-linked glycosylation sites, and the SK moiety of the fusions, containing 3 N-linked glycosylation site (see text). In Fig 1B) lane 1 shows standard molecular weight markers; lane 2, purified SK-EGF and lane 3 showed deglycosylated SK-EGF. In Fig 1C) lane 1shows molecular weight markers; lane 2, deglycosylated EGF-SK, lane 3 shows EGF-SK.</p

Comparison of apparent K_m towards thrombin and Protein C activation capability between thrombomodulin and SK-EGF (n = 3; data with standard deviation).

<p>Comparison of apparent K_m towards thrombin and Protein C activation capability between thrombomodulin and SK-EGF (n = 3; data with standard deviation).</p

Steady state kinetic constants of SK: PN, EGF-SK: PN and SK-EGF: PN fusion complexes for Human Plasminogen activation (n = 3; data with Standard deviation).

<p>Steady state kinetic constants of SK: PN, EGF-SK: PN and SK-EGF: PN fusion complexes for Human Plasminogen activation (n = 3; data with Standard deviation).</p

Affinity of different fusion constructs towards clot-bound thrombin.

<p>This was tested in microtiter plates by a clot lysis method that is described under Materials and Methods. In this graph, Y-axis shows relative percentage change in absorbance at 405 nm that shows fibrin degradation, and X-axis represents time in minutes. In this panel EGF-SK (○), SK-EGF (▼) show faster clot lysis compared to SK (●).All the experiment performed in triplicate and their results shown with error bars.</p