Scientific and technological principles of controlled fermentation in craft production of flour products

The article substantiates the scientific and technological principles of controlled fermentation in craft food production as one of the promising areas of development of the modern food industry. The relevance of the study is due to the steady growing consumer demand for authentic fermented products with high nutritional and biological value and the need to minimisation the risks associated with the instability of microbiological processes, with spontaneous microbiota and variability of product quality indicators of small-scale production. The aim of the work was to develop a comprehensive model of controlled fermentation, based on the synergy of traditional technologies and modern instrumental control methods. The methodological basis was a systematic approach, the concept of barrier technology and methods of mathematical and statistical modelling, which provide a comprehensive analysis of fermentation processes in craft food production. To move from the qualitative characteristics of the technological process to quantitative analysis, the expert-score assessment method was applied and a multifactor regression model was built, which allows predicting the influence of technological parameters on the quality indicators of the finished product and determining the optimal conditions for the fermentation process. The scientific novelty of the results lies in the development of a mathematical equation that describes the dependence of the reproducibility of the fermentation process on the degree of process control and the need for laboratory verification of technological parameters. It was established that the proposed model has a high approximation accuracy, as evidenced by the value of the coefficient of determination R² = 0.998, which confirms the dominant influence of instrumental monitoring systems on ensuring the stability of the technological process and product quality. The study was supported by the creation of a three-dimensional (3D) model of the fermentation module, which provides the ability to visualise and optimise the placement of sensor systems (pH, T, aw) and actuators. Key microbiological risks characteristic of craft production of fermented products were systematised and an algorithm for their levelling was proposed through the introduction of selected autochthonous cultures and digital process logs. The implementation of the proposed model allowed to increase the reproducibility of craft technologies by 60-70% while simultaneously preserving their unique sensory identity 

raft products; multifactorial regression; 3D modelling; microbiological safety; barrier technology