The spontaneous fermented cereal-based products are natural ingredients used since ancient times as aroma and texture enhancers or as biopreservatives. Many studies that focus on the sourdough microbiota and its related properties were carried out until now due to the fact that the fermented products with lactic acid bacteria strains have high functionality and support the consumer's decisions in regard to the healthy foods consumption and lifestyle improvement. As such, finding new lactic acid bacteria strains with functional and technological features that could be part of new starter cultures and understanding the biochemical pathways involved in the fermentation process are still the current research objectives for the scientists in this field. This review highlights the newest trends in the sourdough technology by stating the diversity of raw materials and starter beneficial microorganisms in order to obtain functional fermented products, gluten-free sourdoughs, or fermented products rich in postbiotic compounds (i.e. organic acids, bioactive peptides, short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), exopolysaccharides (EPS), enzymes), compounds biosynthesized by the microorganisms that are part of the consortium involved in the fermentation process. Additionally, multiple strategies for the reduction of the antinutritional factors and an increment of the minerals' bioaccessibility are pointed out, as well as the comparisons between the nutritional compounds of some underutilized pseudocereals and grains for the formulation of new sourdoughs that are recommended for the consumers with special nutritional requirements.

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Identification of emergent technologies towards novel and functional foods is the main concern for researchers and food manufacturers [1]. In this context, the exploitation of unconventional and underutilized flours or by-products for performant fermentation processes with selected starter cultures or artisanal consortia to obtain bioactive sourdoughs rich in metabiotics (prebiotics, probiotics, postbiotics, paraprobiotics) can contribute to the diversification of bakery products with beneficial effects [2], [3].The major objective of this work was to assess the impact of two different gluten-free sourdoughs made of chickpea, quinoa, buckwheat, and okara by fermentation with selected lactic acid bacteria strains, respectively with selected water kefir grains on a gluten-free bread. The obtained sourdough's addition (0-25% w/w) extended the shelf-life of the bakery products against molds spoilage with 2-4 days. Moreover, maximum values for the antioxidant activity (ABTS) were determined for both samples supplemented with 25% (w/w) sourdough, after 2 hours of intestinal digestion using an in vitro simulated model [4]. The results ranged between 2.97-4.89 mM TE/100 g DW bread. A DPPH radical scavenging inhibition of 17.32% was determined for the sourdough bread containing 25% (w/w) sourdough fermented by the water kefir grains' consortium, whereas 29.60% inhibition of the DPPH was determined for the sample with 10% (w/w) sourdough fermented by the selected lactic acid bacteria strains from MIUG Collection. This study offers innovative perspectives for obtaining clean label gluten-free bakery products with increased stability and functionality.