EFFECT OF PROCESSING TECHNIQUES (FERMENTATION, GERMINATION, ROASTING AND SOAKING) ON THE PROXIMATE COMPOSITION, MINERAL, VITAMIN, ANTIOXIDANT AND SENSORY PROPERTIES OF SORGHUM–QUINOA PORRIDGE

Abstract

Gluten-free grains such as sorghum and quinoa are drawing renewed attention from breakfast-food manufacturers, largely because refined-cereal porridges tend to fall short on both micronutrient density and satiety. But raw grain rarely performs as well as processed grain, and how it is processed matters a great deal. This study set out to find which of four common treatments — fermentation, germination, roasting and soaking — does the most for a sorghum-quinoa porridge, judged against raw sorghum-quinoa porridge and an ordinary wheat porridge as benchmarks. Six batches (T0–T5) were prepared and analysed in triplicate for proximate composition, minerals, amino acids, vitamins, colour and pH, water absorption and bulk density, anti-nutritional load, antioxidant capacity, and sensory acceptance; differences among treatments were tested by one-way ANOVA. Fermentation pulled moisture down to 3.21% and produced the densest mineral profile of any treatment — calcium at 40.3 mg/100 g, magnesium at 199.5, iron at 4.32 and potassium at 501.7 mg/100 g — along with the strongest radical-scavenging activity (69.5% DPPH inhibition). Germination told a different story: protein climbed to 12.64%, phenolic content reached 44.56 mg GAE/g, and thiamine, pyridoxine and vitamin E all peaked here too. Both processed treatments also cut tannin and saponin levels well below what raw sorghum-quinoa carried. Colour shifted predictably with heat and fermentation — L*, a* and b* all moved in step with processing intensity. Where the results got interesting was sensory scoring: panellists rated germinated and roasted porridge highest on taste and smell, yet overall preference still went to the plain wheat control, at 8.9 out of 9. Fermentation and germination come out as the two processes worth pursuing further for a nutrient-dense, gluten-free porridge, though closing the gap between what the science says and what people actually prefer remains the harder problem.