Pearl Millet and Finger Millet Sourdough Bread: A New Innovation

Finger millet (Eleusine coracona) and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) are among the few resilient cereals that can adapt well to future climate change conditions, particularly the increasing drought, soil salinity and high temperatures. They are rich in starch, protein, fat, minerals and essential amino acids. Bread is a staple food in Nigeria and is mainly produced from imported wheat which makes it expensive. These cereals are lacking in gluten which is responsible for the gas holding potential of wheat dough as it rises. Hence, this study focuses on developing bread from two types of millet which are indigenous and underutilized using sourdough fermentation. Pearl millet and finger millet were obtained from International CRISAT. Millet sourdough was produced by spontaneous fermentation of the meal (meal: water = 1: 1 w/v) at 37^oC for 48 hours. Millet breads were developed by improvement of previous baking procedures. The fermenting micro-organisms (yeast and lactic acid bacteria) in the millet-sourdough were isolated using Potato Dextrose Agar and De Mann Rogosa Sharpe Agar according to manufacturer’s instruction. The DNA of the isolates were extracted using DNA Purification kit, Promega Corp., Madison, WI, USA, amplified and the samples were sequenced at the University of California Davis sequencing centre. The sequence results were blasted using NCBI. The fermenting micro- organisms of the finger millet sourdough included; Pediococcus acidilactici strain DSM 20284 and Candida glabrata strain CBS138 while that of pearl millet was Pediococcus pentosaceus strain ATCC 25745. The absence of yeast was observed in the pearl millet sourdough. In addition, a reduction in the pH of the sourdough was observed. The structure and texture of the millet breads were firm and the flavor was improved. Hence, it can be concluded that the sourdough fermentation can be used for production of bread from millet.