Revised 18 October 2026; first published 2025-05-25. Original byline and URL retained.
Fructans and gluten differ, but that distinction does not identify the cause of an individual's symptoms without relevant clinical assessment.
Fructans are not gluten
Fructans are fermentable carbohydrates found in wheat; gluten is a group of wheat proteins. They are different components. Fermentation can change fructan levels, but the result depends on the flour, organisms, recipe, and time. Folding develops dough structure; it does not by itself establish that fructans have been reduced.
Studies report different results for different breads. One small pilot compared a particular long-fermented sourdough wheat bread with a short-process yeast bread and measured a lower fructan level in the study sourdough. A market survey of 48 Spanish breads found higher average fructans in its long-fermented artisan sample group. Neither result identifies the fructan level of a Ciabatta.co.za loaf or proves a digestive effect.
What a baker can observe
The baker can record flour, preferment, fermentation temperature and time, dough handling, and loaf structure. A claim about a particular bread’s fructan content would require testing that bread with a suitable analytical method.