ABSTRACT
Cereal grains were one of man’s earliest sources of food (Matz, 1971) and are an important source of dietary proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and bers. One way of processing the grains into food is through fermentation (Akinrele et al., 1970; Akingbala, et al., 1981; Fields et al., 1981; Adeyemi and Beckley, 1986; Blandino et al., 2003). In terms of texture, fermented cereal foods are either liquid (porridge) or sti gels (solid). Fermentation improves the nutritional properties of cereals (Blandino et al., 2003) but decreases carbohydrates, non-digestible poly-and oligosaccharides, certain amino acids, and the availability of B group vitamins (Chavan et al., 1988; Blandino et al., 2003). Degradation of phytate during fermentation may increase the amount of soluble iron, zinc, and calcium several folds (Khetarpaul and Chauhan, 1990; Nout and Motarjemi, 1997a,b; Haard et al., 1999; Blandino et al., 2003). Corn meal fermentation leads to increased availability of lysine, methionine, and tryptophan (Nanson and Field, 1984; Blandino et al., 2003). Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is an excellent source of B-complex vitamins, minerals, and complex carbohydrates (Kalra and Jood, 2000), but needs more cooking time and has relatively poor digestibility and availability of minerals
4.2.10.5 Palm Vinegar 250 4.2.10.6 Date Vinegar 250
4.3 Summary and Future Prospectus 250 References 251
(Arora et al., 2010). A combination of germination and fermentation significantly decreases the crude protein, crude ber, starch, and total and insoluble dietary ber content, while improvements in reducing sugar, thiamine, niacin, lysine, and soluble dietary ber content have been documented (Arora et al., 2010). Increased level of vitamins has also been observed during the fermentation process, along with large quantities of thiamin, nicotinic acid, and biotin, by the action of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
