Making an Ancient Fermented Bread from Wheat Flour and Water Dough

Ancient leavened bread is said to have been developed in Egypt. We hypothesized that microorganisms inherent in wheat flour were involved in fermentation of bread. The dough, made only with wheat flour and water, was kept warm for a day before being baked. The dough began to ferment after 12 hours, and when baked after 24 hours, it yielded bread with a specific volume of 1.7-2.0 cm3/g. Microorganisms were isolated from the dough before baking and identified using a rapid microbial identification mass spectrometry system. In spelt flour, Kosakonia cowanii was the dominant species. Numerous Pantoea agglomerans were isolated from strong flour B, followed by the detection of Moraxella osloensis. A considerable amount of the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus cereus was detected from medium flour. These bacteria can be harmful to the human body. However, the high temperatures involved in the bread-baking process can potentially reduce the number of live bacteria.