Effect of fermented Helianthus tuberosus L. tubers on acrylamide formation and quality properties of wheat bread

•LAB starters are safer for JA fermentation than spontaneous fermentation.•With LAB fermented JA (15 %) decreasing the acrylamide content in wheat bread.•Acrylamide formation in wheat bread has a correlation with sourdough pH.•Acrylamide formation in wheat bread has a correlation with LAB amylase activity.•Fermentation allows to enrich bread with 15 % of JA.

The main focus in this study was to investigate the effects on wheat bread safety and quality due to addition of Helianthus tuberosus L. (JA) tubers, fermented by different lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains (Pediococcus acidilactici KTU05-7, Pediococcus pentosaceus KTU05-8, P. pentosaceus KTU05-9, Lactobacillus sakei KTU05-6, P. pentosaceus KTU05-10).We found experimentally that JA tubers fermented with LAB contained more L(+) than D(−) lactic acid, which resulted in safer products than by spontaneous treatment. The concentrations of biogenic amines in all analysed fermented JA products were far below levels causing a health risk, while the products fermented with LAB contained lower amounts by 50; 55; 55; 68 and 54%, respectively. The proteolytic activity of LAB does not correlate with acrylamide content in bread made with JA additives (R = 0.3683; P = 0.2015), but there was a strong correlation between acrylamide and the sourdough pH (R = 0.8801; P = 0.0056), and with LAB amylase activity excreted in JA material (R = 0.9719; P = 0.003).We conclude that the use of lactic acid fermentation allows wheat bread enrichment with 15% JA fermented with LAB, without deterioration in bread quality and safety parameters.