It is therefore difficult to compare different reports involving different preparative techniques. The loss of minerals was minimal. Decortication improved the biological availability of nutrients and consumer acceptability. Organoleptic factors must also be considered. What is actually done is not always nutritionally for the best, and what is best in one type of diet is not always what is best for another.
Germination leads to considerable changes in the nutritive quality of a grain.
There will obviously be some changes because of the loss of dry matter, but far more important changes. The toxicity of cyanide in germinated sorghum has already been mentioned. The danger of sickness or death from cyanide ingestion must always be borne in mind. Seeds were germinated in quart glass jars, dried at 50 C and ground in a Wiley mill. The main advantage was a reduction in the level of phyate and an increase in the levels of ascorbic acid, lysine and tryptophan.