Volume 2 • Issue 9 • 1000164 J Nutr Food Sci ISSN: 2155-9600 JNFS, an open access journal Open Access Research Article Nutrition & Food Sciences Jood et al., J Nutr Food Sci 2012, 2:9 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2155-9600.1000164 *Corresponding author: Rajni Goyal, Department of Foods & Nutrition, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125004, India, E-mail: shubhi_rgoyal@yahoo.co.in Received May 31, 2011; Accepted August 27, 2012; Published August 31, 2012 Citation: Jood S, Khetarpaul N, Goyal R (2012) Effect of Germination and Probiotic Fermentation on pH, Titratable Acidity, Dietary Fibre, β-Glucan and Vitamin Content of Sorghum Based Food Mixtures. J Nutr Food Sci 2:164. doi:10.4172/2155-9600.1000164 Copyright: © 2012 Jood S, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Effect of Germination and Probiotic Fermentation on pH, Titratable Acidity, Dietary Fibre, β-Glucan and Vitamin Content of Sorghum Based Food Mixtures Sudesh Jood, Neelam Khetarpaul and Rajni Goyal* Department of Foods & Nutrition, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, India Abstract Sorghum is an ancient, drought resistant cereal grain, often grows in semi-arid conditions where other cereal grains cannot. Lactic acid fermentation has been shown to improve the nutritional value of sorghum and the low pH generated during fermentation protects these foods against the growth of pathogenic bacteria. The present study has been planned to see the effect of germination and probiotic fermentation in enhancing the nutritional value of sorghum. Two types of food mixtures were developed using raw and germinated sorghum lour along with whey powder and tomato pulp in 2:1:1 proportion (w/w). The developed food mixtures were mixed with water, autoclaved, cooled and fermented at 37°C for 12 h with Lactobacillus acidophilus curd containing 10 6 cells/ml. These food mixtures were analysed for pH, titratable acidity, dietary iber, β-glucan and vitamin content. Fermentation signiicantly reduced the pH and simultaneously increased the titratable acidity of germinated as well as non germinated food samples. Insoluble and total dietary iber content increased signiicantly by fermentation (p<0.05), however, soluble iber content decreased signiicantly. β-glucan content reduced signiicantly (p<0.05) in fermented sorghum based food mixture. The thiamine, ribolavin and niacin content increased signiicantly on fermentation (p<0.05) in both germinated and non germinated food mixture. This study has signiicance in terms of improving the nutritional quality of sorghum through probiotic fermentation. Keywords: Sorghum; Germination; Probiotic fermentation; Lactobacillus acidophilus Introduction Sorghum is an annual erect plant that bears a cereal seed that is used by the world over as a food and feed and for a long list of other uses as well. he sorghum grain is an important cereal grain that is said to be the staple food of the poor in many countries. India has ever been among the major producers of sorghum in the world. he 2005-06 Indian sorghum production igures were 8 million metric tons. Area wise, India accounts for around 20% of the world total area used for the crop production. he major states in the country where this cereal grain is produced are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Maharashtra produces the maximum sorghum in India. Sorghum ranks third between wheat and maize in production. While, sorghum has traditionally been used as animal feed in the U.S., approx. 40% of worldwide production is used for human consumption in Africa, India, etc. It is also known with diferent names depending upon the geographical area that includes Durra, Egyptian millet, Guinea corn, Jowar, Juwar, Milo, Shallu and Sudan grass. he grain sorghum is similar to that of maize but having more fats and proteins. his proves beneicial for the livestock and hence is the reason of the popularity of the crop as a feed. Various processing methods used in the preparation of products from sorghum include dehulling, cooking, germination and fermentation. Recently numerous researchers proposed germination and fermentation as ways to improve nutritional quality of cereals. he cumulative efect of germination and fermentation especially with probiotic microorganism can have added advantages. hey may not only improve the nutritional quality of sorghum products but may also add therapeutic efects [1,2]. In general fermentation means the conversion of organic substances to simpler substances. Fermentation has been shown to increase the level of vitamin B complex especially that of thiamine and ribolavin [3]. hese changes are important since most of Indian diets are comprised of cereals, millets and legumes and the incidence of protein and vitamin B deiciencies is high [4]. he objective of this investigation was to study the efect of germination and probiotic fermentation on dietary iber, β-glucan and vitamin content of sorghum based food mixtures. Materials and Methods Materials Sorghum (HS-B67-2) was procured from Department of Plant Breeding, CCSHAU, Hisar. Whey powder was provided by Mahaan Proteins Ltd., New Delhi. Tomatoes were purchased from the local market in a single lot. Seedless tomato pulp was obtained by mashing and sieving the blanched tomatoes in a thick strainer. Skimmed milk was obtained from the Department of Animal Products Technology, CCSHAU, Hisar. Microbial culture he culture of probiotic micro-organism Lactobacillus acidophilus