Fermentation of pearl millet flour with yeasts and lactobacilli:in vitro digestibility and utilisation of fermented flour for weaning mixtures

Single as well as mixed culture fermentations by yeasts (S. diastaticus;S. cerevistiae) and lactobacilli (L. brevis;L. fermentum) at 30 °C for 72 h improved the starch and protein digestibility (in vitro) of pearl millet flour significantly. The flour fermented bySaccharomyces diastaticus, a starch hydrolysing yeast, had the highest starch digestibility whereas fermentation bySaccharomyces cerevisiae enhanced the in vitro protein digestibility of the flour significantly. Weaning mixtures prepared from the fermented flour were also found to be organoleptically acceptable.