Some Functional Properties of khambir, an Ethnic Fermented Cereal-Based Food of Western Himalayas.

Papan K Hor,Mousumi Ray,Keshab C Mondal,Somnath Singh,Kuntal Ghosh,Miklós Takó,Smarajit Maiti,Debabrata Bera,Jyoti P Soren,Sanjay Dwivedi,Pradeep K Dasmohapatra,Shilpee Pal

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.00730

Abstract

Traditional leavened wheat-based flat bread khambir is a staple food for the high-altitude people of the Western Himalayan region. The health promoting abilities of two types of khambir, yeast added khambir (YAK) and buttermilk added khambir (BAK), were evaluated. A group of microbes like yeast, mold, lactic acid bacteria (LAB), and Bifidobacterium sp. were abundant in both khambir but in varied proportions. Both are enriched with phenolics and flavonoids. The aqueous extracts of both breads strongly inhibited the growth of enteropathogens. Molecular docking experiments showed that phenolic acid, particularly p-coumaric acid, blocked the active sites of β-glucosidase and acetylcholine esterase (AChE), thereby inhibiting their activities. YAK and BAK showed antiradical and antioxidant activity ranging from 46 to 67% evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), and ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. The aqueous extract of both khambir samples protected the arsenic toxicity when examined under an in situ rat intestinal loop model study. The arsenic induced elevated levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), reduced glutathione, lipid peroxidation (LPO) and DNA fragmentation, and transmembrane mitochondrial potential was alleviated by khambir extract. These results scientifically supported its age-old health benefit claims by the consumer at high altitude and there are enough potentialities to explore khambir as a medicinal food for human welfare.

Highlights

Traditional fermented foods have greater preference in certain communities due to typical characteristics such as flavor, color, and texture (Mondal et al, 2016)
Most of the fermented foods contain an increased amount of health beneficial nutraceuticals, bioactive components, and good microbes compared to their unfermented substrate (Tamang et al, 2016)
India is the second largest producer of wheat and native people prepare a variety of flat breads with different tastes and textures

Summary

Introduction

Traditional fermented foods have greater preference in certain communities due to typical characteristics such as flavor, color, and texture (Mondal et al, 2016). Wheat-based handmade flat bread is a traditional and popular staple food, in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia (Parimala and Sudha, 2015). India is the second largest producer of wheat and native people prepare a variety of flat breads with different tastes and textures. The day, the fermented dough is divided and hand-shaped into small ball-like structures (each having the weight around 200 g) It is baked initially on hot stones and directly in a fire made of wood or cow dung. It can be stored at room temperature for more than a week These traditional flat breads are gaining popularity among outsiders due to the rapid growth of “village tourism,” “home stay,” or “ethnic food tourism” in these regions (Tamang, 2010)

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Results

Conclusion