Elaboration of amylase activity and changes in paste viscosity of some common Indian legumes during germination

The effect of germination upto 120 hours on malting loss, amylase activity and viscosity of nine common Indian legumes was investigated. The amylase activity increased on progressive germination in all legumes, the increase being particularly high for green gram, horse gram, moth bean and black gram. Malted samples had lower cooked paste viscosity than native ones. Samples with high amylase activity exhibited proportionately lower viscosity. Maximum reduction in viscosity was observed in green gram, followed by moth bean, horse gram, black gram and cowpea within 48 hours of germination. Malting losses ranged between 12 to 27 percent over a period of 48 hours in all legumes. Germination beyond 48 hours resulted in considerably higher malting losses without much effect on viscosity.