Nutritive Quality of Fermented Sorghum

The relative nutritive value (% RNV) of sorghum fermented at 25°C and at 35°C increased significantly (P < 0.05) over the % RNV of the control. During the consecutive 7-day fermentation at 25°C, time had no effect on the % RNV. The highest % RNV (56.45%) was achieved at the end of 1 day. Fermentation at 35°C was influenced by the time, with the highest % RNV (61.11%) obtained at the end of 7 days. Available lysine and methionine increased substantially (P < 0.01) over the control when sorghum was fermented at 25°C or 35°C for 4 days. Sorghum fermented at 25°C and at 35°C had methionine contents of 25.68 and 26.79 mg/g N, respectively, whereas the control contained only 11.25 mg/g N. Lysine levels were 33.2 and 34.5 mg/g N in sorghum fermented at 25°C and at 35°C, respectively, whereas the control contained 9.1 mg/g N. None of the available B-vitamins studied was altered significantly in the fermented samples.