CHANGES IN THE MICROBIAL PROFILE AND PROXIMATE COMPOSITION DURING NATURAL AND CONTROLLED FERMENTATIONS OF SOYBEANS TO PRODUCE KINEMA

The mean viable count of Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecium and C andida parapsilosis increased progressively in fermenting soybeans; th e increase was significant at every sampling time interval (8 h) up to 48, 40 and 32 h, respectively Although acidity increased significantl y at almost every 8 h interval the fermentation was essentially alkali ne, causing pH of the beans to rise to about 8.5. With the decline in protein nitrogen content, the non-protein and soluble nitrogen content s increased significantly at almost every 8 h interval The fermentatio n process as well as general acceptability of kinema were improved by fermenting sterile beans with B. subtilis DK-WI at 45 degrees C. This led to a more desirable fermentation within a much shorter period, com pared with the natural fermentation. The rate of increase of Bacillus count in monoculture fermentation was much faster than that in natural fermentation. The Bacillus count in kinema produced by monoculture fe rmentation was 6.4 times higher than that of naturally fermented kinem a. The content of free fatty acids of She Bacillus-fermented kinema wa s 140% less than that of the naturally fermented one. However in respe ct of other compositional parameters, the two types of fermentation we re similar. (C) 1995 Academic Press Limited