Process improvement as influenced by inoculum and product preservation in the production of Hawaijar - A traditional fermented Soybean

Abstract

Hawaijar is a fermented soybean product of Manipur state of India, which is traditionally prepared by fermenting cooked bean wrapped with Ficus (Ficus hispida) leaves in a bamboo basket. Microorganisms isolated from the traditionally fermented product wereBacillus subtilis and Xanthomonas. Individual and combined cultures indicated that B. subtilis would be the organism of choice based on physical and organoleptic attributes. Preservation of the fresh product with acetic and citric acid combinations gave better results than sodium chloride and acetic acid. All the products were evaluated on their organoleptic attributes. The oven-dried product found acceptance by the sensory panelists and was to be similar to the sun-dried product. Key words: Hawaijar, Bacillus subtilis, preservation, ficus leaves, organoleptic evaluation.