Ok. Mbajunwa et al., STARTER CULTURE EVALUATION FOR THE PRODUCTION OF UGBA FROM AFRICAN OIL BEAN SEED PENTACLETHRA-MACROPHYLLA, Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 77(1), 1998, pp. 127-132
Ugba was prepared in the laboratory by the traditional method from the
African oil bean seeds Pentaclethra macrophylla. Microorganisms were
isolated from the fermenting slices of the beans at 24 h intervals for
5 days and characterised. The results show that only bacteria were is
olated from the bean slices. Fungi and yeasts were not isolated. The b
acterial isolates were identified as Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereu
s, Pseudomonas chlororaphis, Micrococcus roseus and Staphylococci sapr
ophyticus. The identified bacterial isolates were evaluated for their
ability to ferment che cooked oil bean slices into ugba with its desir
able quality characteristics of colour, texture, aroma and overall acc
eptability. Bacillus subtilis was significantly (P < 0.05) more active
in fermenting the oil bean than the other isolates. Pseudomonas chlor
oraphis fermented the oil bean actively but caused greening of the sli
ces probably due to the production of the green chloraphin pigment. St
aphylococcus saprophyticus, M roseus and B cereus appeared unimportant
in the fermentation and may be contaminants. Bacillus subtilis was th
erefore selected as the single starter culture for ugba production. (C
) 1998 SCI.