Bread, especially wholegrain bread, is a good source of different minerals such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron and zinc. Unfortunately, a certain amount of those minerals in bread may be not effectively absorbed by our body because they tend to bind to a specific compound called phytic acid, the storage form of phosphorus in grains. Wholegrain breads are particularly high in those compounds..
Thanks to the content in lactic acids in sourdough bread, minerals are more available to the body (i.e. a better bioavailability) as lactic acids neutralise the phytic acids that would interfere with their absorption. The longer rise time needed for sourdough increases the lactic acid and creates an ideal pH for the enzyme phytase, an enzyme that avoid that minerals bind to phytic acids..
As we can see in the following graph, sourdough breads have a better mineral bioavailability than standard breads..
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