Simultaneous HPLC determination of sugars, organic acids and ethanol in sourdough process

This study reports the description of a methodology that allows the simultaneous detection and quantification of organic acids, sugars and ethanol in dough samples using a single injection HPLC analysis. Chemically defined doughs containing various amounts of lactic and acetic acids, soluble carbohydrates (glucose, fructose, maltose, sucrose) and ethanol were prepared to test the efficiency of the extraction and the quantification methods. In addition, the method was compared to classical enzymatic determination of such compounds. Finally, it was applied to estimate the metabolite contents during the fermentation of a wheat sourdough made from a starter culture containing a single Leuconostoc mesenteroides strain. The proposed procedure allows the quantification of common indicators of the metabolic activity of the sourdough microflora in a fairly simple and fast way.