Chemical Changes during Open and Controlled Fermentation of Legumes

This work is a fruit of a serious scientific and hard work efforts that led to the award of a Master of Science degree to the author and generated four scientific articles published in peer- reviewed journals. In a nutshell, it has revealed that: 1-The strain of Aspergillus niger isolated from red seed coats of Bambara nuts has the highest potential of simultaneous production of phytase and tannase. 2- Open fermentation increased the protein content by 12.41% and 24.81% for Vigna racemosa and Vigna unguiculata respectively, while it generally decreased their antinutritional factors content by more than 15%. Open fermentation also reduced the mineral content and flatulent factors by more than 20% for all the beans used in this study. 3- Controlled Fermentation using Aspergillus niger as a starter, increased the protein content by 9.86% and 21.87% for domesticated beans (Phaseolus vulgaris and Vigna unguiculata), while it reduced the protein content of Vigna racemosa by 24.42%. The antinutrients were generally reduced by more than 25% for all the beans. In addition, the mineral content and the flatulence factors were all reduced by more than 20% and 50% respectively