A Preliminary Study of Effects of Preservation on the Biochemical and Microbial Deterioration of Acha (Digitaria exilis, Stapf) in Plateau State, Nigeria

Research and Development on the indigenous African cereal grains, Acha (Digitaria exilis Stapf.) is experiencing renewed interest not just in Africa but the rest of the world. It is believed that acha may have nutraceutical properties, as it is used in some areas for managing diabetes. These grains may also contribute in addressing some very relevant challenges in today’s food formulation- both from functionality and health perspectives. This study was undertaken to hopefully provide a lead to increase the understanding of the health effects of grain components and to increase the intake of health protective grain components,the result of this investigation showed that six(6) different species of fungi were associated with stored and newly harvested acha grains. On the proximate analysis, the very low moisture content suggests that acha loses a considerable of water during storage resulting in longer shelf life. Eight amino acids (leucine, lysine, threonine, methionine, phenylalanine, valine, tyrosine and cystine) were detected except tryptophan which shows the cereal grain is a rich source of fibre and phytonutrients. However, there was no significant difference (p?0.05) between stored and newly harvested acha in terms of their biochemical compositions. We concluded that proper cleaning(winnowing) of acha and longer period of drying to determine the more effective way of preservation should be practiced before storage and consumption, the production of acha in view of the presence of these essential amino acids be encouraged, while further investigations should be carried out to ascertain the level of deterioration under storage.