Abstract: A pure strain of Lactobacillus and a pure strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were isolated from the dough prepared by the traditional ripening method and used individually or in combination to prepare new doughs. The new doughs, especially the one fermented with Lactobacillus alone, showed more obvious aggregation and hydrolysis of starch granules than control dough (without microbial inoculation) as observed under a scanning electron microscope. This study demonstrates that starter culture inoculation is effective in promoting the aggregation and hydrolysis of starch granules in dough and speeding up dough ripening.

Key words: dough, ripening, scanning electron microscope (SEM), Lactobacillus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, wheat starch