39B-30

S. K. SEFA-DEDEH, Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Ghana, Box LG 134, Legon, Accra, Ghana and B. Cornelius.

JUSTIFICATION Spontaneous lactic acid fermentation is an important process in cereal processing. It is applied to develop and enhance taste and flavour, modify texture and improve the microbial safety of foods. When applied to nixtamalized corn mixed with traditional steeped corn it is expected to further improve the functionality, improve nutritional quality and provide an alternative corn-based food ingredient.

OBJECTIVE To study the chemical and functional properties of fermented blends of steeped and nixtamalized corn.

METHOD A 3 x 5 factorial experiment with fermentation time (0, 24, 48 hours) and blend composition (0:100, 25:75, 50:50, 75:25, 100:0, steeped: nixtamalized corn) was designed. The blends were fermented for the specified times and analyzed for pH, titratable acidity, water absorption, texture and viscosity.

RESULTS The pH of all the blends decreased with a corresponding increase in titratable acidity as fermentation time was increased. A decrease in water absorption capacity, texture, colour and cooked paste viscosity was measured in all the blends with increasing fermentation time. The cooled paste viscosity of the blends containing 50:50, 25:75, 0:100 of steeped: nixtamalized corn showed a decrease from 1840 - 780 BU, 2410 - 650 BU, 2240 - 1790 BU respectively after 48 hours of fermentation. The sample derived from 100% steeped corn however showed an increase in water absorption capacity, texture and cooked paste viscosities with increasing fermentation time.

SIGNIFICANCE Nixtamalized corn can be subjected to spontaneous fermentation to produce thin, energy dense gruels of acceptable taste, flavour and colour, to solve the low energy density problem of weaning foods prepared from fermented maize.