Effect of process improvement on the physico-chemical properties of infant weaning food from fermented composite blends of cereal and soybeans.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC 10776 were used as starters to ferment various composite blends of cereals and legumes produced through malting and toasting of two varieties of maize--Zea mays (DMR-LSR white & DMR-ESR yellow), sorghum--Sorghum bicolor (Dawa white & Dawa red) and one variety of soybeans (Glycine ax). Compared to the untoasted and unmalted fermented blends, a relatively lower pH (3.6), highly sour product was obtained with 12 h of fermentation. Results also showed that cereal and soybean toasting brought about a better reconstitution indices (B25, 84 ml; B45, 87 ml), water holding capacities (B25, 0.68 ml/g; B45, 0.62 ml/g), bulk densities (C15, 11.6; C35, 10.8) and gross energy (B15, 501.5 k cal/100g; B45, 508.5 kcal/100g) at the end of fermentation. Furthermore, reductions in total polyphenol and tannin contents were observed with fermentation of toasted and malted cereal blends supplemented with toasted and malted soybeans while porridges from the same blends displayed desirable starch stability and consistent gelling tendency, although B15 (a ferment of malted, toasted white maize supplemented with toasted and malted soybean) fell within acceptable limits. In all, the physical characteristics were affected by varieties of cereal and soybeans.