Effect of germination and probiotic fermentation on nutrient composition of barley based food mixtures

Food mixtures formulated from non-germinated and germinated barley flour, whey powder and tomato pulp (2:1:1w/w) were autoclaved, cooled and fermented with 5% Lactobacillus acidophilus curd (106 cells/ml) at 37 °C for 12 h. The cell count was found significantly higher (8.88 cfu/g) in the fermented food mixture formulated from germinated flour as compared to the non-germinated barley based food mixture. A significant drop in pH with corresponding increase in titratable acidity was found in the germinated barley flour based food mixture. Processing treatments like germination, autoclaving and probiotic fermentation did not bring about any significant change in ash and fat contents, but significant decrease was noticed in crude protein, crude fibre, starch, total and insoluble dietary fibre contents. The combined processing caused significant improvement in reducing sugar, thiamine, niacin, lysine and soluble dietary fibre contents of barley based food mixtures. In conclusion, a combination of germination and fermentation is a potential process for enhancing the nutritional quality of food mixtures based on coarse cereals.