Microbial and Mineral Composition of Fortified Fermented Local Meal from Pigeon Pea (CAJANUS CAJAN) and Unripe Plantain

doi:10.7176/fsqm/111-02

Abstract

A fortified fermented local meal was produced from pigeon pea and unripe plantain. 50kg of pigeon pea was subjected to solid state method of fermentation for 72 hrs. Samples of meal were produced from fermented pigeon pea and unripe plantain at different ratios and labeled samples A, B and C. Sample A had 10% fermented pigeon pea and 90% unripe plantain flour, sample B had 20% fermented pigeon pea and 80 % unripe plantain flour while sample C had 30% fermented pigeon pea and 70 % unripe plantain flour. The three samples were subjected to microbial and mineral analysis. Lactobacillus plantarum and Saccharomyces cerevisae were isolated from all the samples. The microbial count ranged from 1.2x106 CfU /g to 1.8 x 106 CfU/g which was not significant. There was no significant difference (p≤ 0.05) in the microbial count of the three samples. Mineral analysis revealed that the samples were rich in sodium, potassium, calcium, iron and phosphorus. However, sample C had the highest sodium, potassium, calcium and phosphorus while sample A had the highest iron value. Sample A had the least value of sodium, potassium, calcium and phosphorus. Keywords: Microbial, Mineral, Fermentation, Pigeon Pea and Plantain. DOI: 10.7176/FSQM/111-02 Publication date: October 31 st 2021

Highlights

Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) is a legume crop grown in the tropics and widely consumed in Africa, India and the Caribbean
Fermentation as method of food processing helps in conversion of sugar and other carbohydrates into organic acids, enrichment of diet through development of a diversity of flavour, aroma and texture of food substrates, preservation of substantial amount of food through lactic acid, alcohol, acetic acid and alkaline fermentation, biological enrichment of food substrates with protein essential amino acids, elimination of anti-nutrients and decrease in cooking time (Onwuka, 2014)
Lactobacillus plantarum isolated from the formulated meal belongs to the group of lactic acid bacteria which are responsible for fermented process because of their unique metabolic characteristics (Wakil, et al, 2014) the low microbial load of the formulated meal can be attributed to the production of lactic acid, thereby reducing the phipathogenic microorganisms were not isolated

Summary

Introduction

Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) is a legume crop grown in the tropics and widely consumed in Africa, India and the Caribbean. Pigeon pea contains 20-22% protein, 1.2% fat, 65% carbohydrate and 3.8% ash (Onweluzo and Nwabugwu, 2009) high levels of cysteine, methionine and lysine (Osagie, 1998) and smaller amount of oligosaccharides (Singh, 1988). Fermentation is defined as a bio-processing using microorganisms and their enzymes to achieve desirable quality characteristics of food products (Singhanai, 2009).

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