EFFECTS OF GERMINATION AND ROASTING ON THE NUTRITIONALAND MINERAL PROFILES OF CEREAL AND LEGUME FLOURS

The present study investigated the effects of germination and roasting on the proximate and mineral composition of maize, wheat, groundnut, and common bean seed flours.Samples were divided into three 200 g batches (raw, germinated, roasted).Germination was performed after pilot soaking tests (24, 48, 72 h); final conditions used were: soaking 24 h for wheat, maize and groundnut and 48 h for common bean, spreading on wet jute bags with moistening every 12 h, dehulling of sprouts, and oven-drying at 50C for 24 h before milling.Roasting was performed on 200 g batches on a roasting pan over wood fire at approximately 300C for 1 hour before milling.Proximate parameters, including moisture, protein, fat, ash, fiber, carbohydrates, and energy content, were analyzed using standard methods, while sodium, potassium, and calcium levels were determined through atomic absorption spectrophotometry.The results indicated that processing significantly influenced the proximate composition of the flours.Germination consistently increased moisture and protein content across all flours (observed maxima across processed samples up to 14.7 g/100 g for wheat, 10.8 g/100 g for maize, 30.2 g/100 g for common bean, and 33.6 g/100 g for groundnut), while fat, carbohydrate and energy values tended to decrease in germinated samples consistent with metabolic utilization