Co-occurrence of Species During Fermentation of African Indigenous Foods: Impact on Food Safety and Shelf-Life Extension.

The benefits derived from fermented foods and beverages have placed great value on their acceptability worldwide. Food fermentation technologies have been employed for thousands of years and are considered essential processes for the production and preservation of foods, with the critical roles played by the autochthonous fermenting food-grade microorganisms in ensuring food security and safety, increased shelf life, and enhanced livelihoods of many people in Africa, particularly the marginalized and vulnerable groups. Many indigenous fermented foods and beverages of Africa are of plant origin.

Energy generation from anaerobic co-digestion of food waste, cow dung and piggery dung.

The study investigated bioenergy generation from anaerobic co-digestion of food wastes (FW), cow dung (CD) and piggery dung (PD). The physicochemical parameters of the substrates were determined before and after digestion following standard procedures after mechanical pretreatment. Throughout the study, pH remained slightly alkaline while temperature varied between 26 and 32 °C.

Production of exopolysaccharide by strains of YO175 and OF101 isolated from traditional fermented cereal beverage.

YO175 and OF101 isolates from Nigerian traditional fermented cereal gruel ', were investigated on the basis of their capability to produce exopolysaccharide (EPS) on sucrose modified deMan Rogosa Sharpe medium (mMRS). Functional groups analysis of the EPSs produced (EPS-YO175 and EPS-OF101) by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy revealed the presence of -OH, C=O and C-H groups. The chemical composition of EPS-YO175 and EPS-OF101 showed the presence of 87.