Some Functional Properties of , an Ethnic Fermented Cereal-Based Food of Western Himalayas.

Traditional leavened wheat-based flat bread is a staple food for the high-altitude people of the Western Himalayan region. The health promoting abilities of two types of , yeast added (YAK) and buttermilk added (BAK), were evaluated. A group of microbes like yeast, mold, lactic acid bacteria (LAB), and sp. were abundant in both but in varied proportions. Both are enriched with phenolics and flavonoids. The aqueous extracts of both breads strongly inhibited the growth of enteropathogens. Molecular docking experiments showed that phenolic acid, particularly -coumaric acid, blocked the active sites of β-glucosidase and acetylcholine esterase (AChE), thereby inhibiting their activities. YAK and BAK showed antiradical and antioxidant activity ranging from 46 to 67% evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), and ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. The aqueous extract of both samples protected the arsenic toxicity when examined under an rat intestinal loop model study. The arsenic induced elevated levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), reduced glutathione, lipid peroxidation (LPO) and DNA fragmentation, and transmembrane mitochondrial potential was alleviated by extract. These results scientifically supported its age-old health benefit claims by the consumer at high altitude and there are enough potentialities to explore as a medicinal food for human welfare.