Influence of processing conditions on the nutritive value of Ogi-baba,a Nigerian fermented sorghum gruel

The effect of germination, cowpea fortification and fermentation on thechemical and amino acid composition of ogi-baba, a Nigerian fermented sorghum gruelwas investigated. The lowest protein value of 1.4% was obtained in the traditionally preparedsample, while samples prepared from germinated, fortified sorghum had 13%. The ash ranged from 0.9% to above 2%, while the fat was in the range of 1.2% to2.8%. Generally, fortification, in addition to germination, improved the chemicalcomposition of ogi-baba relative to the control sample. There was improvement in the amino acidprofile of all the ogi-baba samples compared to the unprocessed sorghum grains.Lysine, a limiting amino acid in sorghum, increased more than 50% in ogi-baba. However, samples prepared using germinated sorghum without the addition of cowpeas hada lower lysine content.