Effect of malting time on chemical composition and functional properties of soybean and bambara groundnut flours

Soybean and bambara groundnut were malted for 0, 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 h, respectively. The malted beans were dried, devegetated and milled into flour. The protein contents of unmalted soybean and bambara groundnut flours which were 48.3 and 18.8% (dry weight), respectively, increased on malting to maximum levels of 56.17 and 28.55% (dry weight) after 2 days before decreasing to 19.51 and 20.92% (dry weight) for soybean and bambara groundnut flours, respectively. The same pattern of change was observed for the fat, soluble sugar and nitrogen contents of the malted bean flours. Approximately 76 and 59% of the phytic acid contents of soybean and bambara groundnut flours were removed, respectively, on malting for 120 h. Malting significantly affected the water and oil absorption capacities as well as the viscosities of both bean flours. The optimum malting time for both beans was found to be between 72 and 96 h.