It’s <i> Grundansatz</i> : Whole grains and no yeast, preservatives, fat, sugar or dairy products make German <i> vollkorn </i> loaves good for you.

Astroll down a grocer’s bakery aisle, the scent of freshly baked breads wafting through the air, and most shoppers probably won’t have a tough time choosing which loaf to purchase.

Not so for Nicole Freitag.

Not even local health food stores could provide the Ojai resident with the organic bread she had grown accustomed to in her native Germany.

Enter vollkorn. English translation, full-grain.

“When I first came to the U. S.,” she said, “I saw all these terrible breads.” Nowhere to be found were the organic multigrain, yeast-free breads that are prevalent in Germany, she said.

“In Germany, there is a real bread culture. Everybody is going vollkorn ,” she said. “It’s getting more and more popular because the people recognize that they can get everything out of full-grain instead of taking vitamins.”

And now Freitag, 25, has embarked on a entrepreneurial mission. Two months ago, with the help of friend Dieter Nicolay, she began offering the wholesome goods of the Vollkorn Bakery.

Freitag’s baked goods--made in an Ojai bakery rented during off hours--can be found at health food outlets and the Saturday Ventura farmers market. “The grain is ground whole,” she said. Intact are the vitamin- and mineral-rich bran, germ and endosperm. “All white breads use only the endosperm,” Freitag said. “This hardly contains any vitamins.”

Grains used in the vollkorn bread are grown with no chemical fertilizers and no pesticides, and are slowly stone ground just before being shipped to her, she said.

“The grain should be ground very slowly to avoid heating, which can destroy all the healthful values,” she said.

The grain should be ground when baking can soon follow, Freitag said, “because the longer it sits around, oxidation causes it to lose vitamins and minerals.”

Many full-grain breads are readily available elsewhere, but nary a loaf follows the Vollkorn Bakery recipe, Freitag said.

“The base for our breads is grundansatz ,” containing a rare, course-ground grain, honey and sea salt, Freitag said.

“I get this from Germany. A baker there created this ingredient and it has since been patented.”

The grundansatz is mixed with water and then left to rest 12 to 18 hours. The “fermentation period allows the vitamins to be broken down and released,” Freitag said, making them more digestible.

“We then add our other flours and water.” Added to the starter dough are the whole-grain flours such as wheat and rye. Baking time is still hours away. “This will rest again for another 12 hours or more.” More fermentation, more releasing of vitamins.

“After that, I go back and knead the dough for a half hour, adding more flour and whole grains and seeds.” Depending on the bread type, Freitag may add sunflower seeds, flaxseed, sesame seeds, walnuts or oats. For some, she also uses fresh herbs such as thyme, basil and cilantro.

Missing from all of her recipes is yeast--the single-cell fungi responsible for the speed at which bread dough rises. But according to Freitag--who studied nutrition in Germany--yeast is responsible for some health problems. She chooses to rely on the time-consuming natural leavening process.

The Vollkorn Bakery also offers wheat-free and gluten-free breads. “There are people who suffer from wheat allergies, too,” she said. “But that’s not the only reason we make wheat-free breads.”

Freitag advises customers to balance their grain intake. “Most breads we eat are made from wheat. We end up eating them seven days a week.” Eating other grains, such as barley, millet, oat, rye and buckwheat, will provide a more healthful, balanced diet, she said.

Preservatives to retain freshness? Never used. Not so much as a plastic bag, either. “Bread is a living thing,” she said. “If you put a plastic bag on bread, the end result is the same when you put a bag over your head. The bread must breathe.”

The freshness of Vollkorn’s breads is preserved by the crust. “We bake it for a short time at a very high temperature,” she said. The bread finishes baking at lower temperature. “You may think the outside is a brick, but inside it remains fresh and moist.”

The end result is a hearty, wholesome bread free of sugar, fat, cholesterol, and dairy products.

The cost, about $3 per loaf, may sound a bit pricey, but Freitag claims that “there’s no need to buy vitamins when you eat these breads. They are that healthy for you.”

* FYI

In Ojai, Vollkorn Bakery breads are available at Rainbow Bride, Bayless Market and Rancho Arnaz. Ventura shoppers can find them at Lassen’s and the Saturday farmers market. In Santa Barbara, the breads are sold at Hope ‘N Hagens and City Market. To order by mail, write 323 E. Matilija St., No. 112-102, Ojai 93023, or by phone, call 655-7649.