Bread with stoned table olives – the union of two traditional products of excellence of Trás-os-Montes region, Portugal: preliminary results

Abstract

The aim of the present work was to conduct a preliminary study on characterization of wheat bread with stoned green table olives, also called “alcaparras”, in order to obtain a produce that join two traditional products of excellence from Trás-os-Montes region, Northeast of Portugal. ”Alcaparras” are processed from healthy green or yellow-green olives, which are broken using a wooden hammer separating the pulp of the core. The pulp is sliced into two approximately equal parts perpendicularly to the major axis of the fruit and placed on water, which is changed three to four times during a week. This treatment has the purpose of removing olive bitterness. Afterwards the product is stored in brine until consumption. Wheat breads were prepared with different percentages of ”alcaparras”: 0, 3, 5 and 7% and stored at 25 °C for 4 days, being analysed every two days, regarding pH, ash, fat and salt contents, as well as mesophiles, moulds and yeasts. The physicochemical determinations were only made at 0 and 2 days because after the fourth day the bread had developed moulds. The breads presented pH values between 5.85-5.96, salt 0.51- 1.01% (d.w.–dry weight), ash 2.13-2.77% (d.w.) and fat 2.00-3.78% (d.w.) contents. The breads with the highest ”alcaparras” percentage presented the lowest pH value and the highest salt and ash contents. As expected the breads with the lowest fat content were those without ”alcaparras”. The mesophiles varied between 1.3-7.4 log UFC/g (f.w.), and moulds and yeasts between <1 to 5 log UFC/g (f.w.), being the highest values obtained at the end of storage. In conclusion, bread with ”alcaparras” is a promising product to be sold in gourmet shops; however, more studies are needed to increase its shelf-life. The inclusion of ”alcaparras” in traditional breads is also an innovative strategy to valorise two different food products at once.This work was performed in collaboration with the TRADEIT project which has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement n° 613776.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio