Chiemela Enyinnaya Chinma, Vanessa Chinelo Ezeocha, Olajide Emmanuel Adedeji, Olusola Samuel Jolayemi, Queeneth Ijeoma Onwuka, Muna Abdulsalam Ilowefah, Janet Adeyinka Adebo, Cristina M. Rosell, Oluwaseun Peter Bamidele, Oluwafemi Ayodeji Adebo

Refined wheat breads are consumed throughout the world as an energy-dense staple food. The consumption of refined wheat bread has raised concerns among health-conscious consumers. This has partly stimulated research interest in the inclusion of functional ingredients such as germinated/fermented legume flour in the development of nutritious and healthy breads to drive innovations in the bakery industry and overcome sustainability problems. Nevertheless, the inclusion of germinated/fermented legume flours cannot be a direct replacement of refined wheat, because processing requirements must be met. This critical review analyzes the impact of germinated/fermented legume flour on the rheological characteristics, nutritional quality, health-promoting, and technological properties of wheat-based bread for improved nutrition and health, identifying current challenges. The macroconstituent changes and the increasing enzyme activity produced during germination/fermentation influence the functionality of wheat dough and the resultant bread quality. Substitution of up to 20% germinated legume flour caused detrimental effects on technological properties of the bread, whereas better technological properties were recorded with up to 20% fermented legume flour. Nevertheless, more studies are needed to provide detailed insight on this observation. Germinated/fermented legume flour could serve as a functional ingredient for the development of nutritious and healthy breads. In fact, breads containing germinated/legume flour are rich in quality protein, dietary fiber, micronutrients, phytochemicals, and bioactive constituents and low in glycemic index with improved sensory properties compared to 100% wheat bread. Nonetheless, information on the bioavailability of nutrients in breads containing germinated/fermented legumes using in vivo studies and profiling the metabolites therein are scarce in the literature.