Bio-enrichment of phenolic, flavonoids content and antioxidant activity of commonly used pulses by solid-state fermentation

Phytochemicals in pulses are good source of natural antioxidants but present in bound form and conventional processing methods are not enough for release of these phenolic compounds. So, in this research, microbial treatment of pulses named red lentil, cowpea, pigeon pea, urad and mung bean was done to investigate the fermentation response on release of polyphenolics and antioxidant compounds. Results obtained showed that phenolic and flavonoids contents along with the antioxidant potential of all the pulses increased under fermentative effect of Aspergillus awamori at concentration of 1 × 10−6 spores/ml. The effect of fermentation on increased amount of phenolics and antioxidants recorded as in order i.e. pigeon pea > urad > mung bean > cowpea > red lentil. A significant (p < 0.01) correlation was accomplished among total phenol, flavonoid contents with radical scavenging activity which was observed maximum in pigeon pea i.e. r2 = 0.955 and r2 = 0.976, respectively. Likewise significant positive correlation (p < 0.01) between total phenolic and flavonoids compounds with three different enzymes (i.e. α-amylase, glucosidase and xylanase) had justified the role of microbial enzymatic secretions in liberation of phenolic, flavonoids and antioxidant components during solid state fermentation.