Microbial Assessment Of Bacteria And Fungi Associated With Akamu Production
ABSTRACT
Studies on the microbial ecology of fermenting maize were investigated. A good number of microbial strains were isolated from the fermenting sample after 72 hours of fermentation. Several biochemical tests like lactophenol wet mounts, catalase test, oxidase test, citrate test, indole, motility test, spore stain, sugar fermentation test as well as Gram staining were carried out to identify the organisms.
From the results, 5 bacterial isolates and 3 fungal isolates were obtained. The general bacterial isolated include Lactobacillus, Micrococcus, and Bacillus while the fungi isolate are of the genera; Saccharomyces and Aspergillus. The lactic acid bacteria persisted from 24 hrs to 72 hrs of the fermentation. The biochemical profile of the bacterial isolated indicated that they were responsible for the fermentation souring and off-flavors of the fermenting maize.
INTRODUCTION
Akamu, also known as Ogi, is a Nigerian sour gruel made from maize. It is a fermented non-alcoholic starchy food and a major staple food widely consumed in West Africa. (Adeniyi and Potter, 2000). Maize (Zea Mays) is one of the cereals which is the important raw material in the human diet. In Nigeria, maize is grown mainly in the southern part. Some states such as Anambra, Imo, Enugu, and Abia refer to it as ‘Akamu’ but ogi is the Yoruba name. On the other hand, sorghum pap is known as ‘Ogi baba’ while millet pap is known as ‘Ogi gero’ in Yoruba
Fermented foods and beverages constitute a significant part of the food consumed in the traditional African diet. Cereal grains are rich in carbohydrates but deficient in essential amino acids such as threonine, lysine, and tryptophan, thus making their protein quality poorer compared to that of animals. This nutritional quality of Akamu suffers from its method of preparation (Horn and Schwartz, 2009). However, in recent times, germination and fermentation re-adopted as ways of improving cereal protein quality.
Akamu can be consumed with a variety of other products including bread, steamed bean cake (moin moin), fried bean cake (Akara), fried yam and plantain, etc. It is used as a main meal for adult and sick patients and it is suitable for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Pap is widely used as the first native food given to babies at weaning to supplement breast milk and is a major breakfast cereal for preschool children and adults. It is consumed as a main mal for convalescing patients because it can easily be digested.
As a weaning food, it is utilized mainly by low-income earners, it is estimated that about a 25million or more adults eat it about 4-5 days weekly (Banigo, 2002). Milk and Sugar may be added to improve the taste and nutritional quality. Pap is cooked and turned into a still gel called ‘Agidi’ which is similar to ‘kenkey’ a fermented Ghanian product. Some Yoruba indigenes believed that Pap is capable of stimulating the production of breast milk in nursing mothers (Bassir, 2007).
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