Abstract

This research was carried out to know the effect of fermentation on the chemical composition, anti-nutrient content, pH, titratable acidity, and microbiological changes of breadfruit and cowpea blend. Breadfruit and cowpea composite flours were mixed in gram of six combinations as follows: BcA = 100:0, BcB = 90:10, BcC = 80:20, BcD = 70:30, BcE = 60:40, BcF = 50:50 and subjected to natural fermentation for 72 h. The following isolates were isolated  from the fermentation; Lacobacillus fermentum, L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus, L. plantarum, L. dextranicum, L. rhamnosus, L. delbrueckii, L. leichemanii, L. divergens, L. reuteri, L. jenseni, L. casei, L. salivarius, L. cellubiosus, Leuconostoc messenteroide and  Pediococcus acidilactis, of which L. plantarum was the most dominant the throughout the period of fermentation. There was decrease in pH with increase in total titratable acidity (TTA) in all the samples. The result of the proximate analysis revealed a marginal increase in crude protein content of each sample (from 3.80 to 4.43%, from 5.83 to 6.47%, from 7.87 to 8.49%, from 9.90 to 10.53%, 11.93 to 12.56% and from 14.12 to 19.14%). There was increase in fat and crude fibre contents and decrease in carbohydrate and ash contents of the fermented samples. Results from this research also show significant reduction in anti-nutritional content which are hydrogen cyanide, oxalate and phytate, but hydrogen cyanide was not detected in the fermented sample BcF (50:50).

Key words: Breadfruit flour, cowpea flour, natural fermentation, nutrient, antinutrient.