Comparative studies on Bhatooru fermented with traditional inoculum (malera) and standard starter cultures

Bhatooru is a cereal based traditional fermented food of Himachal Pradesh prepared by fermentation of wheat flour dough by sourdough starter ‘malera’. Bhatooru was prepared in laboratory by using yeast and lactic acid bacteria or combination of these microorganisms as starter. Bhatooru fermentations carried out by the combination of starters (C1 and C2) had higher protein content than other samples. Total sugar level in these samples decreased and reducing sugar level increased during fermentation. However, the starch content in these samples decreased. With the progress in fermentation, the amylase and protease activity also increased in almost all the samples except control where very little activity was observed from 0–10 h.It was observed that B-vitamin content (thiamin, riboflavin, nicotinic acid and cyanocobalamin) in samples were higher as compared to the control. Out of various yeast strains used, Saccharomyces cerevisiae inoculated samples showed higher vitamin content. Thiamin content was relatively higher in samples prepared from Lactobacillus strains and combination of starters. Increase in essential amino acid contents (methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, lysine and leucine) was observed in the bhatooru dough prepared by using combination of starters.