Comparative Study on Nutritive Content of Finger Millet-Wheat Composite Bread Fermented With Lactic Acid Bacilli and Yeast

Different forms of bread enriched with millets (composite breads) are being tried, to improve the nutritive quality of the bread.In the present study, one of the traditional millets of south India, Finger millet (Ragi), was mixed with whole wheat flour and fermented with lactic acid bacteria (LAB) as well as Baker's yeast.The composite breads were evaluated for physical, nutritional and shelf life properties, and compared with the commercially available white bread.The nutritive content of both the types of composite bread were superior to the commercially available white bread, serving as a rich source of calcium (296%mg as against 40%mg in white bread).They also showed better shelf-life due to their lower gluten and moisture content.Finger millet-whole wheat composite bread fermented with Baker's yeast had higher Vitamin B group (1.09% mg) compared to the same fermented using LAB (0.40% mg) and the white bread (0.15% mg).This study attempted to formulate alternative and healthy bread making without use of chemicals associated with modern bread baking.