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Fermentation Atlas

Cereals and bread from Greece

Chickpea-leavened bread (eftazymo, arkatena, nohut ekmeği)εφτάζυμο

aromatic bread or rusks. Made in 3 steps over 20 h. The longest step, chickpea leaven, takes 18 h (Hatzikamari M 2007) and runs at 37–40 °C (English Wikipedia). Bacillus licheniformis; bacilli rise to about 10^6 cfu/ml in 8–10 h and 10^7–10^8 at the end does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step18 hMeasured[s1b]Chickpea leaven
Temperature37–40 °CReported[WP-Salt-rising bread][s2b]Chickpea leaven
AciditypH 5.4Measured[s1b]Chickpea leaven

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.
crushed chickpeas
warm water
wheat flour
Starter: spontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 20 h

Start
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37–40 °CpH 5.4shapes, not to countBacillus first

What changes: Crushed chickpeas in warm water foam up as clostridia make gas

Step 1 of 3
Chickpea leaven
Time
18 h
Measured
Temperature
37–40 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH 5.4
Measured
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Bacillus first
Bacillus licheniformis

Output: chickpea leaven.

Flavour
cheesy, sulphurous foam
Texture
foamy liquid
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Bacillus first, then Clostridium; enzyme peaks: invertase at 8 h, cellulase and amylase at 10 h, α-galactosidase at 12 h, protease from 12 h peaking at 16 h

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

The leaven is not yeast but spore-forming bacteria: clostridia in a warm chickpea soak make the gas, as in American salt-rising bread.

Variants

  • Cypriot arkatena koulouriarusks/rings

Safety

The leaven is grown by spore-formers, including C. perfringens and the B. cereus group; it needs steady warmth to work fast, and baking reduces the bacteria to safe levels [WP-Salt-rising bread, s1b].

Hazards the sources name: Clostridia, about 10^7 cfu/ml at 18 h, which make the leavening gas: Clostridium perfringens (non-pathogenic strains reported) and C. beijerinckii; Bacillus cereus group (B. cereus, B. thuringiensis).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

traditional; eftazymo means "seven times kneaded" (folk etymology)

  1. [s1] Wikipedia, Salt-rising bread (notes similar chickpea-leavened breads in Turkey, Sudan), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt-rising_breadwiki
  2. [s1b] Hatzikamari M., Yiangou M., Tzanetakis N., Litopoulou-Tzanetaki E. 2007, Changes in numbers and kinds of bacteria during a chickpea submerged fermentation used as a leavening agent for bread production, Int J Food Microbiol 116(1):37–43, doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2006.12.030paper
  3. [s2b] Mygdalia A.S. et al. 2022, Food Res Int 159:111593, doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2022.111593paper
  4. [WP-Salt-rising bread] English Wikipedia, Salt-rising breadwiki
  5. [thesis2009] Chatzikamari-Pavlidou M. 2009, PhD thesis on chickpea-leavened bread, Aristotle University of Thessalonikipaper