Biotechnological Production of Vitamin B2-Enriched Bread and Pasta

Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) were obtained from durum wheat flour samples and screened for roseoflavin-resistant variants in order to isolate natural riboflavin-overproducing strains. Two riboflavin-overproducing strains of Lactobacillus plantarum isolated as described above were used for the preparation of bread (by means of sourdough fermentation) and pasta (using a pre fermentation step) in order to enhance their vitamin B2 content. Pasta was produced from a monovarietal semolina obtained from the durum wheat cultivar PR22D89 and from a commercial re-milled semolina. Several samples were collected during the pasta-making process (dough, extruded, dried and and cooked pasta) and tested for their riboflavine content by a high performance liquid chromatography method. The applied approaches resulted in a considerable increase of vitamin B2 content (about a two-fold and three-fold increase in pasta and bread, respectively), thus representing a convenient and efficient food-grade biotechnological application for the production of vitamin B2-enriched bread and pasta. This methodology may be extended to a wide range of cereal-based foods, feed and beverages. Additionally, our work exemplifies the production of a functional food by a novel biotechnological exploitation of LAB in pasta-making.