Effectiveness of Levilactobacillus brevis fermentation on antinutrients and protein quality of leaves of selected cassava varieties.

This study aimed to determine the effect of fermentation using an isolated Levilactobacillus brevis strain on the antinutrients and the protein quality of cassava leaves. Cassava leaves from tajirika and kibandameno variety which are considered bitter and sweet varieties, respectively, were fermented using the probiotic isolate and spontaneous fermentation was used as a control. The antinutrients of interest were cyanide and phytic acid whereas the protein quality of the leaves was analyzed in terms of the total crude protein and in-vitro digestibility. These were analyzed using standard procedures namely; picrate paper method for cyanide, spectrophotometry for phytic acid, Kjedahl method for the crude protein, and trypsin and pepsin enzymes simulation for the actual human digestion process for the in vitro protein digestibility. The data obtained was analyzed using the SPSS software and means separated at p < 0.05. The results obtained showed a decrease in the level of both the...