Improvement of Nutritional Characteristics and Antioxidant Potential of Cowpea Flour Through Germination, Roasting and Its Combinations

Abstract

Cowpeas are a particular kind of legume and contains the second highest protein after soybeans. Cowpea is inadequate because it has antinutritions such as tannins, phytic acid, and trypsin inhibitors. Pretreatment is necessary to lower anti-nutritional elements and increase the nutrition of cowpeas' ability to be digested. This study was done to determine the effect of various pretreatment techniques on enhancing cowpea flour's nutritional qualities and antioxidant potential. A completely randomized design with one factorial and three analytical replications was done. The findings of this study demonstrate that cowpea flour may be made using a variety of pretreatments, including germination, roasting, or its combination. A combination of germination treatment followed by roasting can significantly reduce the phytic acid, tannin, and color content and increase the yield and density of the cowpea flour produced. In addition, the initial treatment with the combination had the highest protein content of 46.88%, the highest total phenol, and the most increased RSA antioxidant activity of 47.00%. The most effective method to produce cowpea flour with the best nutritional properties and antioxidant potential is a combination of germination and roasting processes as a pretreatment.