## 3 Results and Discussions
### Phenolic Profile of Cassava Root Flour Naturally Fermented Using Different Times (mg/g)  
The phenolic compounds present in the naturally fermented cassava root flour with various fermentation durations are presented in Table 4. The data from the table suggests that there is a notable increase in the individual and total phenolic compound concentrations with increasing fermentation time, from 0 to 48 h. All six phenolic compounds (gallic acid, caffeic acid, p-cumaric acid, ferulic acid, vanillic acid, and syringe acid) were found to have a cumulative increase in concentration over time. Gallic acid demonstrated the highest increase, from 1.32 \(\pm\) 0.1 mg/g (control) to 2.74 \(\pm\) 0.1 mg/g at 48 h (107.6% increase), followed by caffeic acid (0.84 \(\pm\) 0.1 mg/g to 2.01 \(\pm\) 0.1 mg/g, 139.3% increase). p-Coumaric acid, ferulic acid, vanillic acid, and syringe acid also significantly increased by 159.6%, 107.4%, 97.9%, and 97.1%, respectively. The trends shown in the data likely assume that fermentation significantly promotes the liberation or biosynthesis of phenolic compounds, which may result from some form of microbial or enzymatic process. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Fementation Time (h)**} & **Peak Viscosity** & **Trough (RVU)** & **Breakdown (RVU)** & **Final Viscosity** & **Setback (RVU)** & **Pasting** & **Peak Time** \\  & **(RVU)** & **(RVU)** & **(RVU)** & **(RVU)** & **(RVU)** & **Temp (\({}^{\circ}\)C)** & **(min)** \\ \hline
0 (Control) & 420.3 \({}^{\mathrm{d}}\) \(\pm\) 5.2 & 281.5 \({}^{\mathrm{d}}\) \(\pm\) 4.7 & 138.8 \({}^{\mathrm{d}}\) \(\pm\) 3.6 & 372.2 \({}^{\mathrm{d}}\) \(\pm\) 4.1 & 90.7 \({}^{\mathrm{d}}\) \(\pm\) 2.7 & 72.1 \({}^{\mathrm{d}}\) \(\pm\) 1.3 & 4.3 \({}^{\mathrm{d}}\) \(\pm\) 0.3 \\
12 & 398.4 \({}^{\mathrm{c}}\) \(\pm\) 4.9 & 270.2 \({}^{\mathrm{c}}\) \(\pm\) 5.4 & 128.2 \({}^{\mathrm{c}}\) \(\pm\) 4.3 & 359.8 \({}^{\mathrm{c}}\) \(\pm\) 4.4 & 89.6 \({}^{\mathrm{c}}\) \(\pm\) 2.5 & 71.4 \({}^{\mathrm{c}}\) \(\pm\) 1.4 & 4.2 \({}^{\mathrm{c}}\) \(\pm\) 0.4 \\
24 & 362.7 \({}^{\mathrm{b}}\) \(\pm\) 4.5 & 254.6 \({}^{\mathrm{b}}\) \(\pm\) 4.9 & 108.1 \({}^{\mathrm{b}}\) \(\pm\) 1.6 & 336.3 \({}^{\mathrm{b}}\) \(\pm\) 3.5 & 81.7 \({}^{\mathrm{b}}\) \(\pm\) 2.8 & 70.5 \({}^{\mathrm{b}}\) \(\pm\) 1.2 & 4.1 \({}^{\mathrm{b}}\) \(\pm\) 0.2 \\
48 & 329.5 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) \(\pm\) 5.9 & 239.3 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) \(\pm\) 3.1 & 90.2 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) \(\pm\) 1.9 & 318.4 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) \(\pm\) 6.2 & 79.1 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) \(\pm\) 2.7 & 69.8 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) \(\pm\) 1.3 & 4.0 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) \(\pm\) 0.3 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Mean values with different superscripts in a column are significantly (\(p\leq\) 0.05) different from each other. RVU = rapid Visco unit.  
\end{table} 
Table 3: Pasting properties of fermented cassava root flour at different fermentation times. Gallic and caffeic acids underwent a significant increase, which could be due to their higher solubility or preferential release from bound forms, like glycosides or esters, during fermentation. Ferulic and p-coumaric acids, often bound with the arabinoxins of the cell walls of cereals, likely increased in bioavailability due to hydrolytic cleavage by microbial esterases or \(\beta\)-glucosidaseases [43]. The smaller increases noticed in the vanillic and syringic acids could suggest slower release kinetics or lower starting concentrations. The phenolic content increased from 4.17 \(\pm\) 0.3 mg/g (control) to 9.11 \(\pm\) 0.1 mg/g at 48 h, a relative increase of 118.5%. This significant increase is consistent with the individual contributions of each phenolic acid and suggests that some unmeasured compounds might be released. The pattern most likely indicates fermentation processes breaking more complex phenolic structures, such as tannins or lignins, into simpler identifiable types [34]. The augmentation of phenolic content is likely to be a consequence of microbial interaction that occurs during the fermentation process.