Historically used in textile and paper industry, hemp fibres have started to find new applications in composite materials with important economic and ecological advantages. However, their applications are limited since manufacturers have some difficulties to standardise fabrication processes. This study is a first step before selection and isolation of strains that could later be used to optimise microbial retting efficiency and hence fibre quality. We studied six samples harvested on different ground types, at different dates and with different retting durations on field to obtain an exhaustive representation of the process. After DNA extraction, total bacteria and fungi associated with stems during retting were specifically quantified using real-time PCR. Then, using sequence analysis of randomly cloned 16S and 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, a phylogenetic characterisation of the dominant microorganisms was carried out. Quantitatively, we showed that there were 8.1-9.5 log₁₀ 16S rRNA gene copies per gram of hemp straw for bacteria and 8.6-9.6 log₁₀ 18S rRNA gene copies per gram for fungi. Qualitatively, we noticed a higher bacterial diversity in comparison to fungi. This work showed that in the different samples, the same species were present but in significantly different proportions according to ground type, harvest dates and retting durations on field. The most frequent bacterial sequences were affiliated to species Escherichia coli, Pantoea agglomerans, Pseudomonas rhizosphaerae, Rhodobacter sp., Pseudomonas fulva, Rhizobium huautlense and Massilia timonae, whereas fungal sequences were principally related to the genera Cladosporium and Cryptococcus.

Cereal Chem. 75(5):595-601In control dough, endogenous wheat lipase was inactive, because the triacylglycerol (TAG), 1,2-diacylglycerol (DAG 1,2 ), and 1,3-diacylglycerol (DAG 1,3 ) fractions of nonpolar lipids were not affected by mixing. Conversely, the free fatty acid (FFA) and monoacylglycerol (MAG) fractions decreased, mainly due to the oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) catalyzed by wheat lipoxygenase. Addition of exogenous lipase to flour (15 lipase units [LU] per gram of dry matter) resulted in substantial modification of nonpolar lipids during dough mixing. Due to the 1,3 specificity of the lipase used in this experiment, the TAG and DAG 1,3 fractions decreased, whereas the MAG and FFA fractions increased. The DAG 1,2 fraction increased at the beginning of mixing and decreased after 40 min of mixing. Moreover, part of the PUFA released by lipase activity was oxidized by wheat lipoxygenase, resulting in major losses of PUFA. Conversely, the net content of the saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids (SMUFA) remained constant, because the free SMUFA content increased primarily at the expense of the esterified forms. For a constant mixing time of 20 min, increasing the amount of lipase added to dough (from 2.5 to 25 LU/g of dry matter) resulted in a linear decrease in the TAG fraction and a linear increase in the SMUFA content in the FFA fraction. At the same time, the PUFA content of the FFA fraction increased only for additions of lipase to flour of >5 LU/g of dry matter, due to partial oxidation by wheat lipoxygenase.

The lipid profiles of wheat flour doughs containing exogenous lipase were studied under different mixing conditions using a microscale mixer. An experimental design comparing the effects of dough water content (52–68%), the speed of mixing (50–100 rpm), and the mixer temperature (18–32°C) showed that the hydrolysis levels were positively influenced by temperature and speed of mixing and negatively influenced by water content. The positive effect of temperature was enhanced both by highspeed mixing and low water content. The lipid oxidation levels were positively influenced by the speed of mixing and negatively influenced by the water content. The positive effect of temperature on the oxidation levels was less important. A series of experiments conducted with different types of industrial and semi‐industrial mixers with equal concentrations of lipase added to the dough showed large differences among the rates of lipid hydrolysis and oxidation. However, the mixing conditions proposed by bakers to obtain doughs with similar handling properties led to similar dough lipid profiles. Sodium chloride did not change the lipid profile when added to dough. Conversely, calcium chloride promoted a large increase of lipid hydrolysis and oxidation due to its activation of lipase activity. Addition of yeast increased the lipid hydrolysis and slightly decreased lipid oxidation.

Flours differing in water content of 10% (F10), 12% (F12), and 14% (F14) were stored for 16 weeks at 22, 32, and 45°C. The major changes in lipids concerned the free fatty acids (increase) and the triglycerides (decrease). In all cases, the changes increased with increasing storage temperature and water content. After 16 weeks of storage, the losses in lipoxygenase (LOX) activity increased with increasing flour moisture and storage temperature from 10% for F10 at 22°C to 100% for F14 at 45°C. At the end of storage at 22 and 32°C, the bread volumes decreased by 10 and 25%, respectively, with no statistical differences (P < 0.05) between the samples. At 45°C, the volume losses were equal to 35, 46, and 61% for the F10, F12, and F14 samples, respectively. In the same time, the flour oxidative ability (oxygen uptake during dough mixing) increased for the F10 and F12 samples with increasing storage temperature, whereas it decreased for the F14 samples stored at 45°C. Therefore, provided the residual LOX activity is sufficient (omission of the F14 samples stored at 45°C), the flour oxidative ability increased during storage and is positively correlated to its oxidable PUFA content.

Using an instrumented mixing reactor, oxygen consumption and torque evolution were recorded during the mixing of wheat flour doughs from eight pure French wheat varieties harvested in 2002 and 2003. Wheat flours were also characterised by biochemical analyses including lipoxygenase (LOX) activity assay, free polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content, glutathione and ferulic acid contents, results of alveograph and farinograph tests and breadmaking performances. Some parameters defined from the obtained torque curves, equivalent to consistency curves, were correlated with alveograph and farinograph data. The importance of LOX activity levels and free PUFA content to explain the oxygen consumption during mixing is confirmed. In addition to the characteristics of the oxygen consumption curves, the extent to which the consistency curve parameters are able to differentiate among doughs made with flours from different wheat varieties is considered.