• Applecross SHS’s Woo Kyoung Kim, Kaleigh Spithoven, Emma Mezger and Sarah Boon at the Gluten Biochemical workshop in Perth on Monday. Photo supplied

FOUR Applecross Senior High School students may have discovered the ultimate solution for gluten intolerants: good wheat sourdough bread.

The four year 11 students participated in a program organised by Murdoch University professor and gluten specialist Rudi Appels which analysed the proteins in both normal and sourdough bread.

Their findings revealed sourdough had more sensitive gliadins, the proteins associated with celiac and gluten sensitivity, than normal bread.

That means those proteins can be removed by technological means, with the bread becoming suitable for intolerants.

“The taste and texture of the sourdough would not be compromised like it can be with certain gluten-free bread products,” Professor Appels told the Herald.

“This open up the possibilities to produce sourdough breads that may be more tolerable. The products may also reduce the chance of inducing problems in normal patients.”

The results were presented at the International Gluten Biochemical workshop on Monday.

“The work was genuinely novel and it was good to see the students ‘get it’ as far as the enjoyment of the discovery process in research goes,” Prof Appels says.

by MARTA PASCUAL JUANOLA