Demand-Driven Technologies for Sustainable Maize ... - IITA

450after cooking of maize malted fl ours decreased with the duration ofgermination. Among the factors, germination time had the largestinfl uence on the variation of LGC. The increase in LGC had a negativerelationship with starch, but positive relationships with AA (r=0.70)and SS (r=0.80) during germination. Starch has been recognized asthe major substrate responsible for the gelatinisation of products underhydrothermal treatments (Cabrera et al. 1984; Ngoddy and Onuoha1985; Tatsadjieu 1997). Njingtang and Mbofung 2003). This effectof enzymatic hydrolysis has previously been reported (Lasekan andLasekan 2000; Traore et al. 2004).ConclusionEffects of malting conditions were studied in order to defi ne suitableprocessing conditions necessary to develop amylase-rich fl ours fromagronomically improved Cameroonian maize cultivars. The resultsfrom the study showed that germination is a principal factor infl uencingthe improvement in the nutritional value of maize. The extent ofimprovement is conditioned by the hydration level, maize cultivar andduration of germination. Germination time had the greatest effectand brought about increased amylase activities and soluble nutrientcontents through the degradation of storage reserves in the grain.The soluble sugar value as well as least gelatinisation concentrationincreased with germination time in all cultivars. These factors areof equal importance in infl uencing properties of the nutritional andfunctional profi le of malted fl ours. Grain samples from 88094 x M131x Exp24 and CMS 8704 produced amylase-rich fl ours with the bestproperties and are, therefore, potential sources of good ingredients forthe production of weaning foods commonly made from whole maizefl ours. The performance of the amylase-rich fl ours in the preparationof gruels is currently being evaluated.AcknowledgementsWECAMAN and the Department of Food Science and Nutrition,University of Ngaoundéré are gratefully acknowledged for the fi nancialand technical support for this study.ReferencesAniche, N. and G.H. Palmer, 1990. Development of amylolytic activities insorghum and barley malt. Journal of the Institute of Brewing 96:377–379.AOAC, 1990. Offi cial methods of analysis (13 th ed.) Association of Offi cialAnalytical Chemists. Arlington, VA, USA.Beta, T., L.W. Rooney, and R.D. Waniska, 1995. Malting characteristics ofsorghum cultivars. Cereal Chemistry 72 (6): 533–538.