摘要：Ipekere is a snack’s fried like food product from maize which can be eaten in its natural state or with pap as breakfast
in many homes. Different processing methods on the chemical composition of fermented maize product (ipekere) were
carried out. The maize samples were prepared by wet-milling prior fermentation. The chemical composition (proximate,
mineral and antioxidant contents) and antinutrient content of maize samples were determined. Fermentation enhanced
the crude protein, fat and ash contents in all the samples while the crude fibre and the carbohydrate contents show a
decrease from 1.54% to 0.3% and 28% to 12% for yellow maize machine-grinded and 1.5% to 0.5% and 34% to 18%
for white maize hand-grinded. The phytate content decreased from 8.0 to 4.8 mg/g (yellow maize machine grinded), 6.0
to 3.6 mg/g (yellow maize hand-grinded), 6.4 to 4.0 mg/g (white maize machine grinded) and 5.0 to 4.2 mg/g (white
maize blended) respectively. There was no significant difference in the tannin content. The mineral composition of the
samples varied significantly. High antioxidant content 69% and 65% were obtained from white and yellow maize handgrinded
while yellow and white maize machine-grinded had the least value 20%. Fermented yellow maize and machinegrinding
showed the best sample quality and processing method that could be employed in producing nutritious ipekere.
