Lentil Starch Content and its Microscopical Structure as Influenced by Natural Fermentation

Abstract

Lentil seeds (Lens culinaris var. vulgaris, cultivar Magda-20) were allowed to ferment naturally at different lentil flour concentrations (79 g/L, 150 g/L and 221 g/L) and temperatures (28 °C, 35 °C and 42 °C). During fermentation, samples were taken at 24 h intervals. The changes in starch content in all samples were studied. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to investigate changes in samples fermented for 96 h at two different concentrations (79 g/L and 221 g/L) and two different temperatures (28 °C and 42 °C). A considerable decrease in starch content was observed at 0 h of fermentation, defined as the time when the lentil flour was completly suspended at the established temperature. Once fermentation began, flour concentration and temperature modified starch content. Fermentation brought about a general decrease in starch content and a 32—37 % dry matter content was found in the samples after 96 h. Microscopical studies showed that endocorrosion, i.e., breakdown starting from the center of starch granules, was the main pattern observed during lentil fermentation.