Microbiological and Nutritional Characteristics of Locally Fermented Fufu Commonly Sold in Amai, Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is the raw material for various local dishes around the world with popular ones such as garri, eba, fufu, tapioca abacha and starch in Nigeria, however, microbial and nutritional quality information are scanty on these dishes. Consequently, the objective of this paper was to evaluate the microbiological and nutritional characteristics of Locally Fermented Fufu commonly sold in Amai, Delta State, Nigeria using appropriate standard methods. Data obtained from the sample analysis revealed the presence of various species of microorganisms, including Staphylococcus spp., Lactobacillus spp., Pseudomonas spp., and Bacillus spp. Aspergillus spp and Rhizopus spp however, Aspergillus spp was the predominant fungi. The outcome of the nutritional analysis of the fufu product reveals some parameters such as moisture content, protein content, carbohydrate content. The result revealed high carbohydrate (87.26%) indicating fufu as an energy-giving food, other compositions such as fiber content (3.75%) and ash content (2.22%) suggest that fufu promotes gut health and digestibility. The results of this study shed light on the cultural, macroscopic, microscopic, and nutritional characteristics of the of fufu samples. The proximate analysis of the fufu provided valuable insight to its nutritional content which specifies that fufu is rich in energy giving nutrient (carbohydrate).