SourFun

SourFun is a cooperative business project (type ICON) in which three businesses from the bakery collaborate with research institutes to reach a common objective.

The objective of the project is to (i) study the impact of sourdough breads on human health and (ii) understand how microbial communities from sourdoughs and bread processing can be used to improve the impact on human health and improve the organoleptic quality of sourdough breads. The project will link the health-improving benefits and organleptic quality to the secondary dough fermentation process and the primary sourdough fermentation process to better understand its working mechanisms.

Project partners

• VUB - Research group Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology (IMDO)– Contact person: Luc De Vuyst

• KU Leuven - Translational Research in Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID) – Contact person: Kristin Verbeke

• KU Leuven – Laboratory for Food Chemistry and Biochemistry (LMCB) – Contact person: Christophe Courtin

Projectpartners 

Dit ICON-project bracht een multidisciplinair projectconsortium bij elkaar met complementaire expertise vanuit drie bedrijven (Vandemoortele, Puratos, Bio Bakkerij De Trog) en twee kennisinstellingen: 

• KU Leuven, Laboratorium voor Levensmiddelenchemie en -Biochemie (LMCB), o.l.v. Prof. Christophe Courtin
• KU Leuven, Translational Research Center in Gastro-intestinal Disorders (TARGID), o.l.v. Prof. Kristin Verbeke
• Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Onderzoeksgroep Industriële Microbiologie en Voedingsbiotechnologie (IMDO), o.l.v. Prof. Luc De Vuyst 

Vervolgacties  

​​Alle partners geven aan dat ze de opgedane kennis verder zullen toepassen in nieuwe onderzoekstrajecten. De projectresultaten zullen zoveel mogelijk worden geïmplementeerd en vertaald naar de productieprocessen van de bedrijven. Daarnaast zijn we, met het oog op een eventuele vervolg-ICON, op zoek naar een extra bedrijfspartner die zich de komende jaren wil verdiepen in onderzoek en/of ontwikkeling rond zuurdesem. ​ 

​Enkele relevante publicaties:

• ​De Bondt, Y., Verdonck, C., Brandt, M. J., De Vuyst, L., Gänzle, M. G., Gobbetti, M., Zannini, E., & Courtin, C. M. (2024). Wheat sourdough breadmaking: a scoping review. Annual Review of Food Science and Technology, 15, 265–282.
• ​Chatonidi, G., Pradal-Álvarez-Prida, I., De Vuyst, L., Courtin, C. M., & Verbeke, K. (2025). Effect of lactic acid-rich sourdough bread on appetite regulation: A randomized, double-blind controlled trial. Current Research in Food Science, 10, 100956. 
• ​Chatonidi, G., Rosseel, R., Dalile, B., Satriawan, D., Vandermeulen, G., Van Holm, B., Comer, L., Maes, P., Everaert, N., Courtin, C., & Verbekek, K. (preprint). Effect of whole meal yeast-leavened, sourdough-leavened and yeast-sourdough-leavened bread consumption on appetite, energy intake, and postprandial metabolic responses: A randomized, blinded, cross-over study. Appetite.
• ​Pradal, I., González-Alonso, V., Wardhana, Y. R., Cnockaert, M., Wieme, A., Vandamme, P., & De Vuyst, L. (2024). Various cold storage-backslopping cycles show the robustness of Limosilactobacillus fermentum IMDO 130101 as starter culture for Type 3 sourdough production. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 411, 110522.
• ​Pradal, I., Weckx, S., & De Vuyst, L. (2025). The production of esters by specific sourdough lactic acid bacteria species is limited by the precursor concentrations. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 91, e02216-24. 
• ​Verdonck, C., De Bondt, Y., Pradal, I., Bautil, A., Langenaeken, N. A., Brijs, K., Goos, P., De Vuyst, L., & Courtin, C. M. (2023). Impact of process parameters on the specific volume of wholemeal wheat bread made using sourdough- and baker's yeast-based leavening strategies. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 396, 110193.
• ​Verdonck, C., Van Hecke, Z., De Bondt, Y., Goos, P., Moldenaers, P., & Courtin, C. M. (2024). Mechanistic insights into the impact of acetic acid, lactic acid, and succinic acid on the dough rheology, the breadmaking process, and the specific volume of wholemeal sourdough-type bread. Food Hydrocolloids, 162, 110884.
• ​Verdonck, C., De Bondt, Y., Joye, I. J., & Courtin, C. M. (2025). Impact of acetic acid, lactic acid, and succinic acid on protein secondary structure and water-binding capacity of bread dough in the context of sourdough-type breadmaking. Food Hydrocolloids, 165, 111252.