An indigenously developed food mixture which contained huskless barley flour, green gram dhal flour, skimmed milk powder and tomato pulp ("BGMT" mixture) was autoclaved, cooled and fermented with L. acidophilus at 37 degrees C for 24 h at a dosage of 100,000 cells/ml. This process markedly reduced the phytic acid and polyphenol content and significantly improved the in vitro digestibility of starch and protein. Starch digestibility almost doubled in the fermented mixture. A significant negative relationship was obtained between the contents of antinutrients and digestibility.