In general, sourdough fermentation leads to an improvement in the technological, nutritional, and sensory properties of bakery products. The use of non-conventional flours with a specific autochthonous microbiota may lead to the formation of secondary metabolites, which may even have undesirable physiological and toxicological effects. Chickpea flours from different suppliers have been used to produce sourdoughs by spontaneous and inoculated fermentations. The content of nutritionally undesirable biogenic amines (BA) and beneficial gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was determined by chromatography. Fenugreek sprouts, which are a rich source of amine oxidases, were used to reduce the BA content in the sourdoughs. Spontaneous fermentation resulted in a high accumulation of cadaverine, putrescine, and tyramine for certain flours. The use of commercial starter cultures was not effective in reducing the accumulation of BA in all sourdoughs. The addition of fenugreek sprouts to the suspension of sourdough with pH raised to 6.5 resulted in a significant reduction in BA contents. Enzymatic oxidation was less efficient during kneading. Baking resulted in only a partial degradation of BA and GABA in the crust and not in the crumb. Therefore, it could be suggested to give more importance to the control of sourdough fermentation with regard to the formation of nutritionally undesirable BA and to exploit the possibilities of their degradation.
Keywords: biogenic amines; chickpea sourdough; diamine oxidases; fermentation; gamma-aminobutyric acid.