Microbiological, nutritional quality and antioxidant activity of fermented Delonix regia seeds

This study evaluated the microbiological, nutritional quality and antioxidant profile of fermented Delonix regia seeds. Isolation and characterization of microorganisms was performed by standard microbiological and biochemical methods, while proximate and antioxidant contents of fermented substrates were determined by standard chemical methods. The total aerobic and lactic acid bacterial and fungal counts increased from 2.0 to 4.4 cfu/ml, 0.7 to 18.9 cfu/ml and 0.7 to 2.4 cfu/ml respectively. The microorganisms isolated and identified from the samples were Bacillus subtilis, Staphyloccocus aureus, Serratia marcescens, Micrococcus luteus, Streptomyces greceus, Lactobacillus plantarun, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus plantarum, Aspergillus flavus, A. fumigatus, Fusarium spp., Penicillium notatum, Penicillium italicum, Rhizopus japonicum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The moisture, fat and protein contents of the raw samples increased from 11.10, 1.66 and 19.99 % to 18.25, 4.67 and 32.16 % after fermentation respectively. The antioxidant properties (FRAP, TAC, Flavonoid and DPPH) were remarkably higher than the unfermented D. Regia seeds. The appreciable increase in nutritional and antioxidant properties of fermented D. regia seeds suggest that it might be a good and cheap source of ingredient which can be integrated into human diet and animal feed.