Novel pearl millet couscous process for West African markets using a low-cost single-screw extruder

Traditional West African pearl millet couscous products are popular; however, their preparation is laborious, time-consuming and energy-demanding, involving agglomeration, steaming, drying and sieving steps. In this study, a process was developed to produce millet couscous using a high pressure, high temperature and low-cost single-screw extruder. The innovation was to directly process the cooked low-moisture extrudate to a couscous product by drying and milling to the appropriate particle size (ranging between 1 and 2 mm). Throughput for the traditional process as prepared for commercial sale is 50 kg per day, but with the same amount of labour, the extrusion process yields ~350 kg per day. A consumer sensory study held in Niamey (Niger) showed that the extruded millet couscous was comparable to traditional couscous, though this was dependent on selection of the proper millet variety. This novel extrusion process could stimulate small- to medium-scale manufacturing of couscous and couscous-type products in West Africa.     

Phosphorus seed coating increases phosphorus uptake,early growth and yield of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) grown on an acid sandy soil in Niger,West Africa

In pot and field experiments conducted in 1990 and 1991 on an acid sandy, phosphorus (P) deficient soil in Niger, West Africa, the effect of seed coating on seedling emergence, early growth and grain yield of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) was studied. Seeds of pearl millet were coated with different rates (0; 0.5; 1.0; 2.0; 5.0; 10.0 mg P seed^–1) and types of P fertilizers (single superphosphate, ammonium dihydrogen phosphate; monocalcium phosphate, sodium dihydrogen phosphate and sodium triphosphate). Seedling emergence was generally reduced at coating rates higher than 0.5 mg P seed^–1 and prevented with single superphosphate and sodium triphosphate at rates higher than 5 mg P seed^–1. No correlation was found between the pH and osmomolity of the coatings and final emergence of millet seedlings. The most favourable effect on plant growth and P content was achieved with ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (AHP) as seed coating. This was attributed to the enhancement effect of ammonium on P uptake. Compared to the untreated control dry matter production at 20 days after planting (DAP) was increased by 280%, P content per plant by 330%, total biomass at maturity by 30% and grain yield by 45%. Although seed coating with AHP may be harmful to seedlings emergence, it represents a suitable method to enhance early growth and increase yield of pearl millet.     

玉米黄酒发酵条件的优化

以玉米碴为原料,分别选用UV－48黑曲霉和啤酒酵母为发酵菌种,通过对接种量、培养温度、pH值以及发酵周期的研究,确定以玉米为原料制作黄酒的最佳发酵条件为：最适接种量为糖化菌10％,酵母菌1％;最适发酵温度为15－18℃;最适pH值为4.5-5.5,最适发酵周期为16－19d。     

Cereal‐based fermented foods in developing countries: ancient foods for modern research

Cereal‐based fermented foods are major contributors to energy intake in developing countries (DC). Their microbiota is dominated by lactic acid bacteria and has been extensively investigated. Diversity studies have been facilitated by molecular methods enabling genotyping of isolates; the rapid development of ‘omics’ approaches should facilitate more comprehensive studies to describe the relation between microbial diversity, cell physiology and product characteristics. Also, the link between the food microbiota and health benefits, in particular in nutrition, should be investigated. There is a need to encourage researches in the field of DC cereal‐based foods in direction of more mechanistic approaches.     

Fermentation and heat-moisture treatment induced changes on the physicochemical properties of foxtail millet (Setaria italica) flour

This research intends to verify the effect of Lactobacillus paracasei Fn032 fermentation and heat-moisture treatment (HMT) on the physicochemical properties of foxtail millet (Setaria italica) flour. The results obtained showed a significant (P < 0.05) increase in protein content (12.02–20.54%), total starch (15.78–51.01%) and starch fractions after fermentation and HMT. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis showed high decomposition temperature (T_d) trend of 180.59 and 189.82 °C after HMT. However, there was significant (P < 0.05) enthalpy (ΔH) decrease. Flour digestion resulted in variation of slow digestible starch (SDS) and resistant starch (RS) count from 6.83 to 18.42% and 7.61 to 22.68% respectively, after fermentation and HTM. Following this observation, it was ascertained that in X-ray diffraction; pasting viscosity and fluorescence spectrophotometry show greater HMT influenced on the flour components. Findings from the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed microstructure differences of the flours samples. Fermentation and heat moisture treatment methods present a possible way of changing or improving the physicochemical properties and add nutritional value to foxtail millet meal.     

糙小米和小米联产工艺探讨

根据谷子不同加工产品糙小米和小米的组织结构及营养成分特点,提出糙小米具有较高的营养价值及生产的必要性;分析小米生产工艺各工序特点,确定糙小米和小米联产工艺流程及设备的选用,糙小米的生产与小米相比可以提高粮食出品率和利用率、减少投入及节能降耗,二者还可以满足不同群体的需求,对企业和社会都具有非常重要的现实意义。     

小米挤压膨化产品的吸湿动力学研究

挤压膨化食品极易从周围环境中吸收水分,导致脆性丧失;对吸湿动力学过程的了解有助于选定合适的包装材料和存储环境。将4种形态的小米挤压膨化产品在不同温度、相对湿度下吸湿,并对吸湿过程进行模拟分析。与扩散模型、Peleg模型相比,Weibull模型最能预测小米挤压膨化产品的吸湿行为。根据Weibull模型,同一温度下,初始吸湿速率随相对湿度增大而近似线性增大。同一相对湿度下,总体吸湿速率随温度升高呈近似线性增大。温度越低、相对湿度越高,平衡水分越高。不同样品间的平衡水分差异较小,而吸湿速度差异明显,尤其在低温—低相对湿度条件时。外层气孔结构的差异可能是样品间初始吸湿速率差异的主要原因。     

黍稷籽粒含油量及脂肪酸组成分析

研究分析18个黍稷（Panicum miliaceum L.）品种的籽粒含油量和脂肪酸组成。结果表明,黍稷籽粒含油量为2.54%~4.00%,均值3.71%。黍稷籽粒中主要脂肪酸为亚油酸（18:2n6）、油酸（18:1n9）和棕榈酸（16:0）,含量区间分别为0.075~5.19、0.150~3.02和0.897~1.81 g/100 g,并含有棕榈油酸、硬脂酸、亚麻酸、花生四烯酸、二十二烷酸和二十四烷酸。不饱和脂肪酸（UFA）占总油脂的82.1%~ 94.6%。相关性分析和主成分分析的结果表明,10种脂肪酸含量存在显著的相关性。聚类分析表明,脂肪酸组成在黍稷品种间的差异显著。