Abstract
Fermentation of food products can be used for the delivery of probiotic bacteria and means of food detoxification, provided that probiotics are able to grow, and toxins are reduced in raw materials with minimal effects on consumer acceptability. This study evaluated probiotic enrichment and detoxification of kwete, a commonly consumed traditional fermented cereal beverage in Uganda, by the use of starter culture with the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus yoba 2012 and Streptococcus thermophilus C106. Probiotic kwete was produced by fermenting a suspension of ground maize grain at 30 °C for a period of 24 h, leading to a decrease of the pH value to ≤ 4.0 and increase in titratable acidity of at least 0.2% (w/v). Probiotic kwete was acceptable to the consumers with a score of ≥6 on a 9-point hedonic scale. The products were stable over a month’s study period with a mean pH of 3.9, titratable acidity of 0.6% (w/v), and Lactobacillus rhamnosus counts >108 cfu g−1. HPLC analysis of aflatoxins of the water-soluble fraction of kwete indicated that fermentation led to an over 1000-fold reduction of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 spiked in the raw ingredients. In vitro fluorescence spectroscopy confirmed binding of aflatoxin B1 to Lactobacillus rhamnosus with an efficiency of 83.5%. This study shows that fermentation is a means to enrich with probiotics and reduce widely occurring aflatoxin contamination of maize products that are consumed as staple foods in sub-Saharan Africa.
Highlights
The sustainable production of traditional foods in sub-Saharan Africa offers a viable opportunity to fight increasing hunger and malnutrition [1]
We evaluated the ability of L. rhamnosus yoba 2012 and S. thermophilus C106 to propagate in kwete, a traditional maize-based drink
We show that the yoba starter, including L. rhamnosus yoba 2012 and S. thermophilus C106, were able to remove 100% of 120 μg kg−1 total aflatoxins spiked in the water-soluble fraction of kwete, which is highly relevant considering the range of aflatoxin concentrations we previously found in maize flour in households in Uganda [22]
Summary
The sustainable production of traditional foods in sub-Saharan Africa offers a viable opportunity to fight increasing hunger and malnutrition [1] Cereals such as millet, sorghum, and maize are important sources of food in Africa [2], and are predominantly cultivated for human nutrition, in particular, for children [3,4,5]. Aflatoxin contamination in cereals, such as maize, has been reported to be as high as 46 mg kg−1 and 19 mg kg−1 , in Kenya and Uganda, respectively [11]. The schools get the maize through parental in-kind contributions, direct procurement from the open markets and, to a small extent, from school gardening [12] None of these sources of maize are subject to quality control and could, be contaminated with aflatoxins
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