The use of Mexican xaxtle as leavening agent in Italian straight dough bread making to produce pulque bread

The "pulque bread" is traditionally produced in Mexico using as starter culture the xaxtle, mixed together with wheat flour, milk, eggs, margarine and cane sugar. The high nutritional value of this typical bread, which is characterized by a low glycemic index as well as high concentration of several prebiotic compounds, together with phytase enzymes, seems to be due to the use of xaxtle as leavening agent. The aim of this research was to determine the microbial composition of dough and the physicalchemical characteristics of the bread obtained using xaxtle as starter cultures in straight dough bread making, following the traditional protocol generally adopted by Italian artisan bread-makers. According to the discussed experimental evidences, it is possible to conclude that freeze-dried xaxtle could be employed as starter culture in bread making and the microbial association developed during the dough ripening is characterized by the presence of both yeast and lactic bacteria strains.