Reduction of (E)-2-nonenal and (E,E)-2,4-decadienal during sourdough fermentation

(E)-2-Nonenal and (E,E)-2,4-decadienal are key aroma compounds in wheat bread crumb. The fate of these unsaturated aldehydes in sourdoughs fermented with homo- and heterofermentative lactobacilli or baker's yeast was investigated, and the metabolic pathways in these microorganisms identified. Clear differences were observed between homofermentative lactobacilli, heterofermentative lactobacilli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Heterofermentative strains rapidly reduced the concentrations of these aldehydes in dough, whereas S. cerevisiae displayed a lower activity. Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis reduced the aldehydes to the corresponding unsaturated alcohols, whereas S. cerevisiae reduced both the aldehyde moiety and the double bond, resulting in the formation of the corresponding saturated alcohols. S. cerevisiae first reduced the aldehyde moiety and then the double bond. In L. sanfranciscensis, the reduction of aldehydes is coupled to the oxidation of NADH to NAD⁺, which enables this heterofermentative strain to produce additional ATP from glucose. L. sakei, a strain that produces only lactic acid during sourdough fermentation, did not metabolise the unsaturated aldehydes at all. Both L. sakei and S. cerevisiae appeared to enhance aldehyde formation during the first hours of dough fermentation, probably due to the hydrogen peroxide production by these two strains.