Effect of germination and fermentation on ph, titratable acidity and chemical composition of pearl millet based food blends

Abstract

Two indigenous food mixtures were developed by mixing raw and germinated pearl millet flour, whey powder and tomato pulp (2:1:1w/w), autoclaving, cooling and then fermenting with Lactobacillus acidophilus curd (5%) which supplied 10 6 cells/ml to the slurry at 37 °C for 12 h. The growth of L. acidophilus in germinated + autoclaved + fermented food mixture was found to be significantly higher (8.64 CFU g −1 ) as compared to non-germinated pearl millet based food mixture. Significant drop in pH with corresponding increase in titratable acidity was also observed to be maximal in germinated + autoclaved + fermented food mixture as compared to non-germinated food mixtures. Germination and probiotic fermentation did not bring about any significant effect on moisture, fat and ash contents whereas significant change was observed in crude protein and crude fibre contents. A significant (P<0.05) reduction in the contents of phytic acid and polyphenols was noticed due to cumulative effect of germination, autoclaving and fermentation, which ultimately caused significant improvement in protein digestibility by about 44% in non-germinated and 55% in germinated food mixtures, respectively.