Comparison between the amino acid, fatty acid, mineral and nutritional quality of raw, germinated and fermented African locust bean (Parkia biglobosa) fl our

Background. The most popular form of utilization of African locust bean (ALB) is in its traditional fermentation food condiment (iru/dawadawa), which adds protein to a protein-poor diet and also as Medicine. In view of the nutritive values of ALB, the present study therefore aimed at investigating the effect of germination and fermentation on the nutritional quality of ALB fl our. Material and methods. The ALB was obtained from a local market in Akure, Nigeria. The seeds were divided into three portions, and treated as raw African locust bean (RALB), germinated African locust bean (GALB) and fermented African locust bean (FALB) respectively. Each of the samples was milled, sieved and analysed for chemical, functional properties and nutritional qualities using standard methods. Results. Some most important results of the chemical analysis were as follows: protein content range between 33.64 ±0.41 – 41.49 ±1.89 g/100 g, while the energy value was between 442.79 ±2.32 – 457.20 ±2.15 kcal. The P/Ca and Na/K ratio of the RALB were higher than other fl our samples respectively. Total essential amino acid was between 29.960-27.514 mg/100 g. Protein effi ciency ratio (PER) was between 1.78-1.87; essential amino acid index 31.43-34.75%; while biological values were 22.56-26.18%. The dominant fatty acid (FA) composition of the samples was linoleic with 33.687%, 31.578% and 28.7% for RALB, GALB and FALB respectively; while the least was lauric acid. The polyunsaturated/saturated FA ratio ranges between 0.589-0.718. The antinutrient concentration of fermented fl our sample was signifi cantly reduced than other food samples. Conclusion. The present study investigated the effect of germination and fermentation on the nutritional quality of ALB fl our. The fi nding showed that fermentation technique signifi cantly reduced antinutrient concentration and also improved the nutrient composition, particularly amino acid profi le of ALB fl our.