Effect of Malting Duration on Yield and Proximate Composition of ‘ Fura’ Produced with the Grains of Pennisetum typhoides

The effects of malting duration on yield (g/kg) and proximate composition of ‘Fura’ produced from the grains of Pennisetum typhoides was studied. The grains were cleaned and subjected to 24hr, 30hr and 36hr of malting. Unmalted grains used to produce the ‘Fura’ served as control (0hr, unmalted). Malting of the grains up to 30hr caused a decrease in protein from 15.0 to 6.25% with a corresponding increase in carbohydrate from 25.14±0.71% to 39.65±0.32%. Further malting, up till 36hr showed reversed compositions of 16.67±1.4% and 26.20±2.55% for protein and carbohydrate respectively. Lipid content of 3.33% remained constant in unmalted and malted ‘Fura’ products. Ash and fibre were not affected significantly (p<0.05). However, the mean dry matter yield with unmalted Fura product (951.05d) was significantly different from the malted products at 24, 30 and 36hr of 920.38c, 850.38b, and 831.04a respectively. The colour, smell, taste and texture of the malted Fura’ products did not make them clearly distinct from each other. The effects of malting are only conspicuous on the protein and carbohydrate compositions, which may be taken advantage of in human nutritional issues. Keywords: Malting, Duration, Yield, “Fura”, Pennisetum typhoides, Proximate composition.