Fermented

Since the early 1950s, numerous reports have been published suggesting that peanut milk and peanut milk based products can be prepared in a wide variety of ways. Emphasis has shifted from preparing inexpensive milk like beverages, very nutritious but somewhat lacking consumers appeal, to using the peanut milk or peanut protein isolates as an animal milk extender without changing flavor, to develop more attractive fermented products, and to precipitate proteins from the milk in order to get a curd called "tofu," and to produce cheese analogs. Great attention has been paid to the improvement of the stability, sensory properties, and shelf-life of the milk, using physical and chemical treatments. Many efforts have been deployed for supplementing the products. Thanks to recent advances, the removal of aflatoxin from peanut milk can be achieved using Flavobacterium aurantiacum as a biodegradater. It has also found application as liquid coffee whitener. However, despite all these developments and publications, there is still a need for much more diversified studies in order to definitely overcome the stability, the nutty flavor, and sensory problems always encountered when producing peanut milk and some peanut milk based products.

Malnutrition of varying degrees has been associated with feeding infants with unwholesome and poor quality weaning foods. Therefore, the nutritional characteristics of maize-based complementary food enriched with fermented and germinated Moringa oleifera seed flour was investigated. The Moringa oleifera seeds were fermented and germinated using standard processing methods while the maize grains were fermented for the production of " ogi " flour. The proximate, antinutrition-al, mineral and functional properties of the formulated complementary food were determined. The results of the proximate composition of the diet showed that crude protein content of the complementary diets differed significantly (p< 0.05) and the value ranged from 15.27 to 17.00 % while the energy value ranged from 386.28 to 395.01 kcal. Phytate content of the sample ranged from 0.09 to 0.36 mg/g and the trypsin inhibitor value was 0.05 to 2.30 tiu/mg. The predominant mineral elements are sodium and phosphorus whose values ranged from 58.60 to 67.85 mg/100g and 57.58 to 68.58 mg/100g respectively. Other mineral elements found in least amount are copper and manganese and the values ranged from 12.46 to 25.38 mg/100g and 0.76 to 0.94 mg/100g respectively. The loosed and packed bulk densities of the diet ranged from 0.54 to 0.57 g/ml and 0.62 to 0.72 g/ml while the water and oil absorption capacities of the samples were 179.00 to 194.00 % and 140.00 to 150.00 % respectively. The study established that fermented-ogi moringa seed flour was more nutritious in terms of the nutrient composition than the raw-ogi moringa seed and germinated-ogi moringa seed flours and it also compared favorably with commercial diet.

Starter cultures are those microorganisms (bacteria, yeasts, and molds or their combinations) that initiate and carry out the desired fermentation essential in manufacturing cheese and fermented dairy products such as Dahi, Lassi, Yogurt, Sour cream, Kefir, and Koumiss amongst others. Starter culture is defined as “an active microbial preparation, deliberately added to initiate desirable changes during preparation of fermented products”. Starter cultures have a multifunctional role in dairy fermentations. The production of lactic acid by fermenting lactose is the major role of dairy starters. The acid is responsible for development of characteristic body and texture of the fermented milk products, contributes to the overall flavour of the products, and enhances preservation. Beyond the horizons of their conventional role in acid, flavour and texture development, they are being looked up on as burgeoning “cell factories” for production of host of functional biomolecules and food ingr...