Probiotic potential of spontaneously fermented cereal based foods – A review

The realization that food has a role beyond provision of energy and body forming substances has shifted scientific investigations with growing interest in the research and development of functional foods. A lot of attention is being focused on probiotics due to the enormous support showing health benefits. Probiotics are associated with fermented foods and it is therefore of importance that spontaneously fermented foods, that are so common in Africa, be assessed for their probiotic attributes. These foods are within the economic means of the people and are widely accepted in populations where they are produced. The foods have relatively long shelf-lives under ambient temperatures (without spoiling), are widely accepted especially by the vulnerable groups such as children, expectant/breastfeeding mothers, the aged and are commonly served to the sick and recovering persons. These foods would therefore render an invaluable health benefit to communities when consumed and would impart an invaluable economic benefit to society. Probiotics are associatedwith lactic acid bacteria that are commonly found in fermented foods. This paper reviews studies that have been carried out to enumerate, isolate, characterize and identify the microorganisms involved in the spontaneous fermentations of cereal based products and their assessments for  potential probiotic attributes

Partial characterisation and identification of lactic acid bacteria involved in production of ikii: a traditional fermented maize porridge by the Kamba in Kenya

Ikii is a fermented maize grits porridge prepared by the Kamba community in Kenya and is a favourite amongst children, breastfeeding mothers and the aged. It is a food commonly served to the sick and recovering persons and can store for as long as a week under ambient temperatures (25 – 30 oC) without spoiling. The pH during the fermentation process of ikii showed a decreasing trend from an initial average value of 6.4 to an average value of 3.9 at 36 hours and through to 72 hours, indicating production of acid. The population and diversity of lactic acid bacteria involved in production of ikii was studied. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were found to be the dominant microorganisms that bring about fermentation process leading to production of ikii. After 36 hours of the fermentation period, LABs and yeasts were found to exhibit a synergistic relationship that boosted the population growth of each other. From 40 samples of ikii suspension, 185 lactic acid bacteria strains were isolated, characterised and identified by use of morphological features, biochemical and phenotypical tests as well as sugar fermentation profiles of the API 50 CHL kit. The genus Lactobacillus (62%) formed the dominant microbiota and the rest of the isolated strains belonged to the genus Pediococcus (38%). Of the isolated strains, L. fermentum formed the dominant species (43%); other species were L. plantarum (10%), L. confusus (8%) and L. rhamnosus (1%). Keywords: Traditional fermented maize porridge; Lactic acid bacteria; Ikii; Kamba. Journal of Tropical Microbiology and Biochemistry Vol. 4 (1) 2008: pp. 3-1