Microbiological And Nutritive Qualities Of Fermented Maize – Legume Flour Blends In The Production Of A Weaning Food.

ABSTRACT

Fermented maize flour (“Ogi”) is a traditional porridge prepared from maize, sorghum or millet grains majorly used as important weaning food for infants in West Africa but poor in protein content. “Ugba” is a protein based fermented food condiment obtained from the seeds of the African oil bean (Pentaclethra macrophylla) and used to complement the nutritional content of soups and sauces.The quality of complementary food made from fermented maize flour supplemented with varying levels of ugba flour blends (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 %) was investigated. The microbial, physicochemical, proximate and sensory parameters of the samples were analysed. The microbial analyses were done based on microbiological standards. The physicochemical and proximate parameters were performed according to chemically approved standards. Microorganisms isolated from fermented maize flour and ‘Ugba’ included Lactobacillus brevis, L. plantarum, Pediococcus acidilactici, Staphylococcus species, Escherichia coli, Bacillus species, Micrococus species, Pseudomonas species, Proteus species, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans. The total bacteria counts increased with increase level of Ugba flour addition from 1.1×10⁶ ± 1.73^e for 10% to 1.6×10⁶ ± 4.23^a Cfu/g for 50%. Total coliform counts increased with increase level of Ugba flour addition from 6.0×10⁵± 3.46^e for 10% to 2.9×10⁶± 2.08^a Cfu/g for 50% , total Staphylococcus count increased with increase level of ugba flour addition from 2.4×10⁵± 2.55^e for 10% to 8.6×10⁵± 4.00^a Cfu/g for 50% and total fungi count of the samples increased with increase level of Ugba flour addition from 2.5×10⁴± 3.00^e  for 10% to 1.5 ×10⁵± 5.00^a Cfu/g for 50% while the total Lactic Acid Bacteria count decreased with increase level of Ugba flour addition from 8.0×10⁵ ± 4.00^b for 10% to 3.3×10⁵± 2.65^f for 50% Cfu/g. The pH decreased steadily from 3.9 ± 0.10^d to 3.3 ± 0.10^f for fermented maize flour and from 7.7 ± 0.10^a to 5.8 ± 0.10^c for Ugba flour blends, with a corresponding increase in titra acidity from 1.3 ± 0.14^c to 2.5 ± 0.00^a for fermented maize flour and from 0.6 ± 0.14^ef to 1.2 ± 0.28^c for Ugba flour blends. The nutritional values of the supplemented product were significantly higher (p˂0.05) compared to fermented maize flour and increased significantly (p<0.05) with increase level of ugba flour addition of 10% to 50%. Higher protein content (6.01% ± 0.10^c for 10% to 8.75% ± 0.18^a for 50%), fiber (0.36 ± 0.12^b for 10% to 1.47% ± 0.12^a for 50%), fat (1.20% ± 0.01^c for 10% to 5.40% ±0.04^a for 50%) and ash content (0.55% ± 0.11^b for 10% to 1.77% ± 0.10^a for 50%) of the supplemented product were observed compared to fermented maize flour alone. The organoleptic evaluation of the complemented food product showed that it was liked by the trained panelists. This study revealed that complementing fermented maize flour with Ugba flour could open an avenue for combating nutritional deficiencies such as protein malnutrition and at the same time improve the utility value of ‘Ugba’.