Résumé:
Cereals are the basis of human nutrition. Fermented wheat grains contain active biological substances which give them great interest in terms of herbal medicine. The objective of this work is to demonstrate by an in-depth bibliographical study of the most advanced physico-chemical, microbiological and phytochemical analyzes with more efficient techniques the effect of natural fermentation on the microbiological, biochemical and nutritional quality of fermented traditional wheat.
Among the key information found from the bibliographic study:
Wheat is a convenient source of carbohydrates, proteins, essential amino acids, minerals, vitamins and dietary fiber produced by a single harvest in the year, while the consumption period is extended throughout the year. Hence the need for storage either by modern methods (metal silos, reinforced concrete silos) or by traditional methods (granaries, Matmora, etc.).
Wheat grains can undergo various alterations caused by agents of various origins and that these alterations can be of mechanical, biological, biochemical, enzymatic and microbiological types.
Fermentation of cereals leads to a general improvement in shelf life, it adds new organoleptic, nutritional and therapeutic functionalities to foods. And The production of organic acids during fermentation leads to a significant reduction in pH, which together with the formation of antimicrobial compounds determines the microbial stability of products as well as the motility of pathogenic bacteria and other harmful microorganisms.
In Algeria, the traditional fermented wheat called "Hamoum", an ancestral foodstuff consumed in the form of couscous and obtained after a natural fermentation in an underground granary called Matmora, rich in beneficial microflora yeasts, lactic acid bacteria, enterobacteria, and sporulating bacteria (Bacillus) have therapeutic, immunological and nutritional virtues.
