A fermented nutraceutical beverage from quinoa: The traditional grain of Andes

Abstract

Quinoa is a traditional grain used as a staple food by ancient people of Andean countries and South America, known for its excellent nutritional profile. This pseudo-cereal is rich in protein, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.   However, presence of anti-nutritional factors such as, saponins, tannins, phenols and phytic acid is a serious deterrent to use quinoa in daily diet. This study focus on lactic acid fermentation to answer this riddle. Lactic acid bacteria were isolated from surface of quinoa seeds and characterized. All the isolates (QB-1, QB-2, QB-3, QB-4 and QB-5) were Gram positive, Catalase negative, acid producing and non-endospore forming. Two among the native isolates, QB-1 and QB-2 were selected based on their ability for beverage development. Isolate QB-1 reduced the phenolic compounds (from 0.94 to 0.36 mg/g of GAE) significantly. Isolate QB-2 was found to be more efficient in reduction of phytic acid (from 11.06 to 1.00 mg/g) and tannins (from 4.92 to 2.05mg/g of GAE).  A significant reduction of saponin (from 11.2 to 0.13 mg/g) was recorded by isolate QB-1 and Lactobacillus delbrueckii. The study also revealed that, curd is efficient in reducing anti-nutritional factors such as, phenolic compounds and phytic acid.