The Sourdough Library was founded in October 2013 in
Saint-Vith
St. Vith (german: Sankt Vith ; french: Saint-Vith ; lb, Sankt Väit ; wa, Sint-Vit) is a city and municipality of East Belgium located in the Walloon province of Liège. It was named after Saint Vitus.
On January 1, 2006, St. Vith had a tot ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, and is the only facility in the world dedicated to housing
sourdough
Sourdough or sourdough bread is a bread made by the fermentation of dough using wild lactobacillaceae and yeast. Lactic acid from fermentation imparts a sour taste and improves keeping qualities.
History
In the ''Encyclopedia of Food Microbio ...
cultures. The library is housed at the Puratos Center for Bread Flavour, with a mission to conserve and promote sourdoughs from around the world, to conduct research, and to ensure the survival of the various strains for future use. It currently has over 900 strains of
wild yeast and
lactic acid bacteria
Lactobacillales are an order of gram-positive, low-GC, acid-tolerant, generally nonsporulating, nonrespiring, either rod-shaped (bacilli) or spherical (cocci) bacteria that share common metabolic and physiological characteristics. These bacte ...
recorded. Every new sample that arrives at the library is checked and analyzed in the laboratory, run by Professor Marco Gobbetti. The library is a
not-for profit initiative from Puratos and as of 2016 has 87 sourdoughs, including 12 from the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
See also
*
List of sourdough breads
This is a list of sourdough breads. Sourdough is prepared through the fermentation of dough using naturally occurring lactobacilli and yeast. The lactic acid produced by the lactobacilli imbues it a more sour taste, as well as extending its she ...
References
External links
Virtual tour
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puratos
Sourdough breads
Archives in Belgium
Biorepositories
2013 establishments in Belgium
St. Vith