STARTER CULTURE EVALUATION FOR THE PRODUCTION OF UGBA FROM AFRICAN OIL BEAN SEED PENTACLETHRA-MACROPHYLLA

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.