Effect of Natural Fermentation on the Nutritive Value and Mineral Composition of African Locust Beans

Abstract

Effect of natural fermentation on the nutritive value and mineral composition of African Locust beans were investigated in this present paper. The seeds were soaked, boiled, dehulled and fermented naturally for three days. The raw, unfermented (boiled) and fermented seeds were subjected to analysis. There were slight increase in the protein contents of the unfermented (boiled) seeds (32%) and significant increase in the fermented seeds (37.34%). The moisture, fat, crude fibre, ash and carbohydrate contents in unfermented seeds (boiled) were 37.0%, 15.2%, 7.4%, 4.9% and 23.01% respectively as against 42.8%, 24.21%, 5.3%, 3.55% and 17.0% in fermented seeds. Fermentation caused a significant increase in the pH values, with unfermented seeds (boiled) 6.3 and fermented seeds 8.4. However, there was no significant change in the mineral composition during fermentation.