A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Food Engineering and Bioprocess Technology, School of Environment, Resources and Development

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2017

Maseura is traditionally fermented ethnic product of Nepal prepared using taro tubers and different legumes. In this study, taro tubers and black soybean, underutilized crops from Nepal were used to prepare maseura. Aim of this research was to optimize the fermentation condition of maseura preparation by using L. plantarum. The optimization of fermentation condition was conducted by three factors; fermentation time (h), raw material ratio (taro: soybean (g)) and culture concentration (% w/v) by using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The optimum fermentation condition predicted by RSM was 30h of fermentation time with 10 %w/v culture concentration and 70:30 (Taro: soybean (w/w)). The physico-chemical, functional properties and antinutritional constituents of maseura were analyzed before and after fermentation. After fermentation, the antioxidant value (as % DPPH and FRAP) was found to be increased from 39.13 to 90.24 % and 38.19 to 92.58 omolFeII/g respectively. The total phenolic content was also increased from 2.94 to 5.17 mg GAE/g. Amino acid composition of maseura was found to have nine essential amino acid and nine non-essential amino acid. Similarly, the antinutritional constituents like tannin, phytate, oxalate and cyanide present in the raw material used was reduced significantly because of fermentation from 3.26 to 1.92 mg/g, 27.70 to 26.3 mg/g, 0.73 to 0.36 mg/g respectively whereas cyanide was not detected. Shelf life of the product was evaluated under room temperature (25 {u00BA}C) for three months with conventional and vacuum packaging. From result it was shown that vacuum packaging can be used for longer shelf life compare to conventional packaging.