(i)    Completed

         Summary of my completed research works can be categorized as follows:       

(a)   Microbial Taxonomy

Scientific information was provided on the associated microorganisms of the fermented products studied. Characterization of the microbes using both phenotypic and biochemical methods were carried out. Some of the fermented products and isolates were reported for the first time. Microbial taxonomy is an essential phase in the study of any fermentation process. This is because biotechnological typing of the isolates cannot be done without the knowledge of the identities of the associated microorganisms of any fermenting matrix.

 (b)    Biochemical Studies

Since fermented foods form a substantial part of the diet in sub-Saharan Africa, research efforts were geared towards providing information on the biochemical status of some of these food products. Some of the papers reported the biological ennoblement resulting from fermentation of the raw materials, while enzyme activities were also monitored. Of note is the effect of galactosidase treatment on soybeans. It was observed that the treatment not only significantly reduced the anti-nutritional constituents of the beans; the soymilk prepared from the treated beans had a ‘vanilla-like’ aroma and acceptable taste, as opposed to the usual off-flavour characteristic of the unfermented and untreated soymilk. Information provided in some of the studies can be advanced to yield economic benefits.

(c)    Upgrade of Fermentation Processes

The preparation of fermented foods in sub-Saharan Africa is still a traditional family art based on old recipes transmitted from generation to generation. Research efforts were made to transform the above from the traditional art to science. Some of the works provided steps for optimization of the traditional processes with a view to obtaining consistent product’s quality. The use of starter-cultures (singly and mixed) featured prominently in some of the studies. The production of sour maize bread using lactic starters was regarded as innovative by a reviewer of the journal that published the article. Research studies on development of fermented weaning and adult foods with improved nutritional profile were also carried out. Such food products e.g. Ghanaian Banku, was used for an intervention study to arrest kwashiorkor in a study site in Ghana during my study leave.

(d)     Soil and Environmental Microbiology

Few of the works provided information on the continued soil improvement in alley cropping by employing appropriate strains of Rhizobium. The usefulness of this study the farmers in sub-Saharan Africa cannot be over-emphasized. Biotyping of Pseudomonas species that can be further developed as a potential hydrocarbon biodegraders was carried out in one of the studies. However, more studies will need to be carried out to determine their bioremediation ability.

(e)     International Collaborative Research

A project on ‘Ogi-Technology of West African fermented food from sorghum and maize’ was funded by SAREC (Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation with Developing Countries) for 3 years in University of Lund, Sweden. The project provided database for small-scale industrial production of ogi by optimizing the processing conditions. Some of the lactic acid bacteria strains identified produced ogi with final pH of less than 4.0 within 6 hours when used as starters. Another project on ‘Development of a cereal-yoghurt based on sorghum’ was equally sponsored by the same Agency for 3 years. Selected probiotic strains of Lactobacillus with ability to colonize human intestinal mucosa, achieve rapid Lactic acid fermentation of sorghum and also inactivate food pathogens, were used as candidate organisms.

In Ghana, the microbiological investigation of some of the works on USAID BEAN / COWPEA Collaborative Research Program of Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Ghana and Department of Food Science, University of Georgia, USA was carried out.

In the Laboratory of Biotechnology (Tropical Microbiology), Institute for Research and Development, Montpellier, France, efforts to characterize amylolytic lactic acid bacteria isolated from traditional fermented foods in Nigeria using physiological and amplified fragment length polymorphism fingerprint analysis, formed the main focus of our collaboration.

In the Institute für Hygiene und Toxikologie/BFEL, Germany, a 12- month Research Fellowship of Alexander von Humboldt was on “Characterization of Lactic Acid bacteria as starter cultures for the production of traditional fermented foods with health-promoting feature in sub-Saharan Africa” The specific objectives were: taxonomic characterization of LAB strains isolated from traditional fermented foods in Nigeria using molecular techniques such as restriction enzyme analysis (REA), pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, amplified fragment length polymorphism(AFLP), and or randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR); screening and characterization of the bacteriocins produced by the selected strains; determination of acidification potential, enzymatic activities, detection of health-promoting features such as barrier/restoration effects on diarrhoea, adherence and colonization resistance, stimulation of immune system, fermentation studies for the production of “health sogurt” etc.

(ii)     In Progress

    Characterisation of antimicrobial compounds, hydrolytic enzymes, and bacteriocin from

    Lactic acid bacteria from traditional fermented foods; Identification and

    biotechnological characterization of food yeasts; starter culture development for small-

   scale fermentation in developing countries.