Chapter 5 - African legume, pulse, and oilseed-based fermented products

Abstract

There is an increasing global consumer demand for functional foods due to the prevalence of non-communicable and chronic diseases. Such functional foods including fermented food products are of interest due to the presence of beneficial health constituents. In Africa, fermentation is one of the traditional food bioprocessing techniques employed to practically achieve adequate nutrition and food security. This chapter describes notable African fermented products derived from legumes, pulses, and oilseeds. Although numerous products exist, only few have been investigated. As such is the need for more studies into the nutritional, health-promoting, and microbiota of these plethora of fermented food products, as they are vital to the diet of the African populace and of economic importance. The nutritional composition, health-promoting properties, and microbiota of these fermented foods are discussed.