Dried Gapal, a staple in Burkina Faso, packs power and important minerals, however new analysis exhibits its phytic acid ranges could possibly be holding again key vitamins like zinc.
Research: Dietary composition of dried Gapal, a extremely nutritious meals primarily based on fermented cereal and milk. Picture Credit score: Vineke
Researchers on the Analysis Institute for Utilized and Technological Sciences, Burkina Faso, not too long ago analyzed the dietary composition of dried Gapal, a fermented milk-cereal combination extensively consumed in Burkina Faso. The findings are printed within the journal Uncover Meals.
Background
Gapal is a standard meals among the many Fulani individuals in Burkina Faso. It’s a combination of fermented milk and cereals, and is on the market in dried or yogurt-like kind. Millet paste and milk are primarily used for the manufacturing of Gapal, with the addition of baobab pulp, spices, and sugar.
Pearl millet, generally used for Gapal manufacturing, incorporates excessive quantities of minerals, together with calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, and potassium. The lactic acid bacteria-based fermentation course of enriches gapal nutritionally and improves its taste, texture, digestibility, and shelf life.
Nevertheless, some millet elements, similar to phytates, can scale back the bioavailability of micronutrients by lowering their biodegradability. Meals processing strategies, together with germination, fermentation, and hulling, can take away these elements.
Lactic acid bacteria-based fermentation is a extremely efficient technique for degrading phytic acid. In the course of the mixed fermentation of milk and millet dough, lactose is transformed into lactic acid, which produces risky molecules, which in flip enhance the style and dietary worth of Gapal.
Regardless of its excessive dietary high quality and rising utilization in main cities in Burkina Faso, there’s a lack of scientific proof concerning the proximate composition and dietary properties of this indigenous meals.
For the primary time, researchers on the Analysis Institute for Utilized and Technological Sciences comprehensively analyzed the dietary composition of Gapal to develop a database for future analysis.
They bought Gapal samples from 5 main cities in Burkina Faso. They assessed the protein, lipid, carbohydrate, free amino acid, mineral, and phytic acid content material of those samples utilizing normal strategies.
Research findings
The researchers discovered appreciable variations in dietary composition between Gapal samples collected from 5 main cities. There was notable variability in nutrient content material not solely between cities but additionally amongst totally different producers inside the identical metropolis, reflecting the dearth of course of standardization.
The evaluation revealed that Gapal incorporates 0.76 to five.5% of lipids, 5.4 to 9.6% of protein, 84 to 92% of carbohydrates, and 1.1 to 2.1% of ash. Amongst minerals, the samples contained potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, copper, and manganese. The precise measured common values had been: potassium (214.18 mg/100 g), calcium (66.74 mg/100 g), magnesium (34.04 mg/100 g), zinc (0.80 mg/100 g), iron (8.14 mg/100 g), copper (0.44 mg/100 g), and manganese (0.85 mg/100 g). These ranges diversified significantly throughout the totally different samples.
Solely proline and lysine had been constantly detected in all Gapal samples; different free amino acids, together with some important amino acids, had been discovered sporadically and at low ranges. Nevertheless, dried Gapal exhibited a notable quantity of phytic acid (365.92 milligrams per 100 grams of dried Gapal).
The examined samples exhibited vital variations in moisture content material, pH, and acidity. The moisture content material of those samples was greater than that reported for different Gapal-like meals merchandise, similar to kishk and tarhana, which could affect their storage.
The examine additionally decided the molar ratios of phytate to key minerals, similar to zinc, iron, and calcium, with a purpose to estimate bioavailability. The phytate: zinc (Phy :Zn) molar ratio in dried Gapal samples typically exceeded 15, a threshold above which zinc bioavailability is taken into account considerably diminished by the World Well being Group. In distinction, the phytate: iron and phytate: calcium ratios had been decrease, suggesting that iron and calcium in dried Gapal could be extra bioavailable than zinc.
Research significance
The examine supplies a complete overview of the dietary composition of the normal African meals Gapal.
In response to the examine findings, Gapal incorporates excessive ranges of carbohydrates, which could be attributed to its millet content material. The pH and acidity of dried Gapal are much like these of comparable meals merchandise similar to kishk and tarhana, though Gapal has a barely decrease lactic acid content material, which can be as a consequence of variations in fermentation and drying time.
The manufacturing strategy of kishk and tarhana consists of 5-day fermentation, adopted by 3-day drying. In distinction, Gapal manufacturing consists of a mixed drying and fermentation course of lasting 3 to five days. A barely decrease lactic acid content material noticed in dried Gapal may also be attributed to its shorter fermentation and drying length and the smaller amount of milk added throughout manufacturing.
Dried Gapal has been detected to have a decrease protein and lipid degree in comparison with comparable millet-based meals. Proteins in Gapal come from each milk and millet, and the noticed discount in protein content material could be as a consequence of production-related loss, which could be improved by rising the fermentation course of.
Lipids in dried Gapal primarily come from milk, which is used as recent milk, fermented milk, or yoghurt throughout manufacturing. Yogurt is obtained from reconstituted milk powder, which is commonly defatted or fattened with vegetable fat. This variation within the fats content material of milk or yogurt, relying on the product, could be accountable for the decrease lipid content material in Gapal.
Solely proline and lysine, free amino acids, have been detected in all Gapal samples; different important amino acids similar to valine, methionine, isoleucine, leucine, and phenylalanine had been detected solely sporadically and at low ranges.
A low milk content material in dried Gapal (roughly 20%) would possibly restrict the provision of free amino acids. Nevertheless, as researchers talked about, the digestion of Gapal may facilitate the discharge of different, extra plentiful amino acids.
Excessive ranges of important minerals have been detected in examined samples. Nevertheless, the bioavailability of those minerals could possibly be compromised by the excessive phytic acid content material of dried Gapal. Millet is the first supply of phytic acid in Gapal, and current proof signifies that the phytic acid content material of millet could be diminished by means of hulling (a strategy of eradicating the outer husk of millet) and fermentation processes.
The examine highlights that, regardless of the attention-grabbing mineral content material of dried Gapal, the presence of phytates, notably in relation to zinc, might restrict the precise dietary profit for shoppers, except additional processing enhancements are made.
The authors additionally notice a number of limitations of their examine. They weren’t capable of decide the vitamin content material or the full amino acid content material of Gapal. Moreover, the examine was restricted in its geographic scope and pattern measurement, suggesting that additional analysis ought to embody extra cities and a better variety of samples. The authors suggest that future research concentrate on standardizing manufacturing processes and assessing the sensory and sanitary qualities of Gapal for a extra full dietary analysis.
Total, the examine supplies priceless info for enhancing the Burkina Faso meals composition database.
