Na. Olasupo et al., Studies on some technological properties of predominant lactic acid bacteria isolated from Nigerian fermented foods, FOOD BIOTEC, 15(3), 2001, pp. 157-167
In a programme to develop starter cultures for improving the safety and qua
lity of traditional fermented foods in Africa, a study was conducted on lac
tic acid bacterial (LAB) strains isolated from the traditional selected Nig
erian fermented foods kunun-zaki, wara, nono, iru. The LAB strains represen
ting the dominating population of each product, were identified as Enteroco
ccus faecalis (1), Pediococcus pentosaceus (4), and Lactobacillus fermentum
(19). All the strains grew at 450 degreesC, an observation which could be
attributed to the tropical environment of the fermented foods. They produce
d a moderate spectrum of enzymes of relevance to food processing, and exhib
ited similar patterns of enzymatic activity between species, but generally
showed weak esterase and lipase activities as compared with peptidases. Whi
le no proteinase activity was detected, most strains showed high galactosid
ase activity. Two strains showed ability to degrade phytic acid. None of th
e strains produced any detectable bacteriocins or biogenic amines under the
test conditions used, and all were unable to hydrolyse bile salt. Eleven (
45.8%) of the strains coagulated skim milk at 30 degreesC within 24-36 h, a
nd at 37 degreesC within 12-20 h together with a moderate drop in pH. The r
esults are discussed to highlight the relevance of technological features o
f starter cultures in food processing in the African environment.