Recently, there has been a significant increase in demand for high protein flours. Legumes are the most commonly used raw material for their production, as they are highly nutritious. However, they also contain anti-nutrients, such as phytic acid (PA), which can reduce the nutritional value of the final product. There are several physical, chemical, and biological methods to reduce the content of PA and thus increase the nutritional value of legume flour. One such approach is fermentation, during which some other components are also transformed, e.g. starch and proteins into lactic acid, peptides and amino acids, biogenic amines and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). In this master's thesis, we performed 24-h and 48-h spontaneous and guided fermentations (L. plantarum IM 527) of milling fractions of pea flour that differed in protein, polyamine, mineral, and phytic acid content. We found that fermentation results in accumulation of lactic acid and GABA and in proteolysis. Some fermentations also resulted in the reduced content of phytic acid and histamine. By using starter cultures with known metabolic properties, we can standardise the fermentation process to achieve better nutritional value of the final product.
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