CBN-V Video Archives - S3-06
Lactic Acid Fermentation to Elevate Cassava to the Present Day Needs

George M.

Central Tuber Crops Research Institute Sreekariyam–695 017, Trivandrum, Kerala, India. mgeorge@ctcri.ren.nic.in

      Raw Cassava flour possesses a cohesive texture on heating in the presence of water and this imparts a rubbery consistency to the processed food products. The cohesive texture is due to the rapid break down of starch granules in raw cassava flour and adversely affects the substitution of cassava flour in place of cereal flour for the preparation of food items. Fermented cassava flour offers additional stability to starch granules thereby reducing cohesive texture. The artisanal procedures for lactic acid fermentation in African continent emanate foul smell. The Latin American technology, which offers puffing-up trait to fermented cassava starch takes 30 to 40 days. Against this back ground, the mixed-culture-inoculum developed in India, which can soften the tuber in 48 h for easy extraction of flour with puffing-up qualities, is worth-mentioning. The low cost technique is self-sustaining, devoid of foul smell and eliminates toxic cyanogens from the flour. Although the mechanism of gluten-free cassava flour to puff-up upon lactic acid fermentation is not yet clear, an attempt is made to explain the mechanism on the basis of surface modification of the fermented starch granule. The adoption of the mixed-culture technique in other cassava growing countries is proposed and discussed.

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