Assessment of Biochemical and Antimicrobial Activity of Bacteria Associated with Fermented Locust Beans in Manyare Community of Kogi State, Nigeria

Abstract

A fermented locust bean (Parkia biglobosa) is one of the most popular food condiments in region of Western and Southern African. It is one of the major sources of plant protein in African diet. Raw seed were prepared in the traditional African way by boiling them for 6 h to soften the seed coat; and for another 1 h to soften the cotyledon. The boiled seeds were immediately transferred into a basket line with banana leaves and wrapped tightly to prevent heat loss. They were left at ambient temperature to ferment for 72 h. Total bacterial community of the seed was obtained by taking one gram and mashed with mortar and pestle, dissolve in 9 ml of distilled as diluents, then ten-fold serial dilution (10^-2, 10^-3, 10^-4, 10^-5, 10^-6, 10^-7, 10^-8, 10^-9 and 10^-10) were made from this solution. Nutrient Agar was prepared and 0.1.ml of the inoculums was taken, inoculated and incubated at 30°C for 24 h. The bacterial isolates were identified by standard microbiological measures. The organisms isolated include; Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus saprophyticus. The in vitro antibiotic susceptibility testing of bacterial isolates was performed using the standardized disc agar diffusion. The physical characteristics observed in the organoleptic assessment include; color, taste, aroma and texture. The major constituents of fermented locust beans include; proteins, fats and carbohydrates. With the ever increasing cost of protein sources in Africa and other developing countries, the ferment is recommended for use as food condiment especially in soups to alleviating protein deficiencies and its associated diseases.