Germination is the sprouting of cereal and legume grains brought about by soaking in water, which stimulates metabolic activity as the seed starts to grow. As soon as the seed is hydrated a number of complex chemical changes occur, including the synthesis of vitamins, the most important ones being niacin, riboflavin and vitamin C (Chen et al., 1975; Lay and Fields, 1981).

Studies carried out by Lay and Fields (1981) showed that sprouts of germinated maize were significantly higher in niacin, riboflavin and ascorbic acid than non-germinated maize. Niacin increased 3-fold and 1.8-fold in sprouts and de-sprouted maize after germination. The niacin content increased from 2.46 mg niacin/100 g in non-germinated maize to 4.38 mg niacin/100 g in germinated de-sprouted maize and to 7.51 mg niacin/100 g in the sprouts after germination.

Other studies found that after 5-6 days germination of oats, wheat, barley and maize, the content of niacin increased 6, 2, 2, and 4 times, respectively. Wang and Fields (1978) and Taur et al. (1984) reported an increase in the amino acids tryptophan, lysine and methionine in maize and sorghum germinated for 5 days at 25°C when compared to the non-germinated products. The brewing of beer involves a germination as well as a fermentation process-usually of barley.