Crude protein and crude fibre conte

Crude protein and crude fibre contents of non-germinated (unprocessed) food mixture formulated from non-germinated (unprocessed) barley flour were 14.83% and 2.14%, respectively which decreased slightly after autoclaving but significantly after fermentation i.e. 7% and 12%, respectively (Table 2). On the other hand, food mixture formulated from germinated (unprocessed) barley flour contained significantly lower protein (13.86%) and fibre (2.10%) contents as compared to food mixture containing unprocessed non-germinated flour. Autoclaving and then fermentation of food mixtures may have caused reduction in crude fibre contents due to solubilisation of fibre (Sindhu & Khetarpaul, 2005). Similarly, Akubor and Obiegbuna (1999) reported reduction in total protein content and improvement in protein extractability of germinated finger millet. The protein reserves of the millet endosperm may have been used in the formation of new protoplasm and to meet the needs of the growing seedling. Again, autoclaving of this mixture did not have a significant effect, but fermentation caused further reduction by about 5% in total protein content of the food mixture formulated from germinated flour. Similarly, previous workers also reported that the bacteria used in fermentation of natto and tempe caused significant increase in the level of free amino acids, since during fermentation the micro-organisms secrete hydrolytic enzymes which degrade complex proteins into simpler proteins, peptides and amino acids ( Ahmad et al., 2008 and Akubor and Obiegbuna, 1999). On the contrary, increased protein content due to fermentation has also been reported in millets ( Antony et al., 1996 and Elkhalifa et al., 2007).