EFFECT OF FERMENTATION WITH WHEY ON THE HCL EXTRACTABILITY OF MINERALS FROM RICE-DEHULLED BLACKGRAM BLENDS

Various rice-dehulled blackgram blends were developed and fermented wi th whey at 35 degrees C for 18 h to find out the effect of fermentatio n on total minerals and their extractability in 0.03 N HCl, an index o f their availability to the human system. Fermentation did not signifi cantly change the total amount of calcium, phosphorus, and iron presen t in the blends. On the other hand, the HCl-extractability of calcium, phosphorus, and iron was enhanced considerably after whey incorporati on and fermentation of cereal-legume blends. The amount of phytate pho sphorus also decreased significantly. The higher HCl-extractability of minerals may be partly ascribed to decrease in phytic acid content be cause a signficant negative correlation occurred between the phytic ac id and dietary essential minerals.