Main Article Content
Effects of germination and fermentation on the quality characteristics of maize/mushroom based formulation.
Abstract
resulted in a pH reduction from 5.99 to 3.30 in non-germinated products and from 5.88 to 3.29 in germinated samples during fermentation. The increase in titratable acidity (expressed as g lactic acid/100g sample) from 0.14 to 0.17 in non-germinated products and from 0.14 to 0.18 in germinated samples was not significant (p< 0.05). The crude protein values ranged from 16.0g/100g for the NGFMR to 16.3g/100g for
NGNFMR product. The GNFMR had the lowest carbohydrate content (60.8g/100g) while the GFMR had the highest value of 66.0g/100g. No significant difference (p< 0.05) was obtained in the variation of the ash content between 5.2g/100g for GFMR to 5.4g/100g for GNFMR and NGFMR had the highest energy value of 340KJ/100g while the NGNFMR had the lowest (336.8 KJ/100g). Germination resulted in a significant (p<0.5) increase in digestibility. A combination of germination and fermentation further improved protein digestibility (%). The PER of the germinated
and fermented product (1.87) was significantly (p<0.5) higher than that of the nongerminated non-fermented product (PER=0.82). Sensory scores for flavor ranged from 3.30 out of 7 (fair) for GFMR to 4.7 (fairly good) for GNFMR. The GNFMR was characterized as having a sweet taste while the GFMR and NGFMR were characterized as having fairly sour flavors. The appearance score of 5.20 (pleasant) for NGNFMR was significantly (p<0.05) higher compared with the other products. The product made from GNFMR had the highest score of 5.50 (like very much) while NGFMR had a value of 3.70 (neither like nor dislike) for overall acceptability. Germination and/or fermentation of maize with added mushroom have been used to
formulate acceptable products which could be used as a weaning food. The addition of mushroom implies that the final products have potential for improved protein quality beneficial to its consumers.