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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Food Science Technology
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1469960
This article is part of the Research Topic Enhancing Nutrient Profile, Safety, and Sustainability with Fermentation Technology View all 6 articles

Effect of Fermentation, Malting and Ultrasonication on Sorghum, Mopane Worm and Moringa oleifera: Improvement in their Nutritional, Technofunctional and Health Promoting Properties

Provisionally accepted
Mpho S. Maleke Mpho S. Maleke 1Oluwafemi A. Adebo Oluwafemi A. Adebo 1*Jonathan Wilkin Jonathan Wilkin 2Moira Ledbetter Moira Ledbetter 2Xi Feng Xi Feng 3John Gieng John Gieng 3*Tumisi B. Molelekoa Tumisi B. Molelekoa 1*
  • 1 Centre for Innovative Food Research (CIFR), Department of Biotechnology and Food Technology, Faculty of Science, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
  • 2 Division of Engineering and Food Science, School of Applied Sciences, Abertay University, Dundee, United Kingdom
  • 3 Department of Nutrition, Food Science, and Packaging, San Jose State University, San Jose, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Food processing offers various benefits that contribute to food nutrition, food security and convenience. This study investigated the effect of three different processes (fermentation, malting and ultrasonication) on the nutritional, techno-functional and health-promoting properties of sorghum, mopane worm and Moringa oleifera. Methods: The fermented and malted flours were prepared at 35 °C for 48 hours, and for ultrasonication, samples were subjected to 10 minutes at 4 °C with amplitudes of 40 - 70 Hz. The biochemical, nutritional quality and techno-functional properties of the obtained flours were analyzed using standard procedures. Results: Fermentation resulted in significantly lower pH and higher titratable acidity in sorghum and mopane worm (4.32 and 4.76; 0,24 and 0,69 % lactic acid, respectively), and malting resulted in higher total phenolic content and total flavonoid content in sorghum (3.23 mg GAE/g and 3.05 mg QE/g). Ultrasonication resulted in higher protein and fibre in raw sorghum flour (13.38 and 4.53%) and mopane worm (56.24 and 11.74%) while raw moringa had the highest protein (30.68%). Biomodification by fermentation in sorghum led to higher water and oil holding capacity and increased dispersibility in the ultrasonicated samples. Ultrasonication of mopane worms led to higher water holding capacity, oil holding capacity and dispersibility. Lightness was found to be significantly higher in the fermented samples in sorghum and mopane worm. Raw moringa had the greatest lightness compared to the ultrasonicated moringa. Moringa had the most redness and browning index among all samples. Conclusion: In this study, all the investigated processes were found to have caused variations in flours' biochemical, nutritional and techno-functional properties. Ultrasonication process was noteworthy to be the most efficient to preserve the nutritional value in sorghum, mopane worm and M. oleifera flours.

    Keywords: Traditional processing, Novel processing, Nutritional benefits, underutilized, edible insect

    Received: 24 Jul 2024; Accepted: 16 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Maleke, Adebo, Wilkin, Ledbetter, Feng, Gieng and Molelekoa. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Oluwafemi A. Adebo, Centre for Innovative Food Research (CIFR), Department of Biotechnology and Food Technology, Faculty of Science, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, 2006, South Africa
    John Gieng, Department of Nutrition, Food Science, and Packaging, San Jose State University, San Jose, United States
    Tumisi B. Molelekoa, Centre for Innovative Food Research (CIFR), Department of Biotechnology and Food Technology, Faculty of Science, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, 2006, South Africa

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.