Cereal-based products 

A multitude of fermented products made from cereals are daily consumed in Africa. The fermentation steps hold many advantages: they enhance food safety by inhibition of pathogens, they generally preserve the foods and modify their sensory properties, they improve their nutritional value by removing anti-nutritive compounds, and by enhancing bioavailability of components. The consumption of lactic acid fermented cereal product has proven its positive effect on human health. In Africa, the fermentation is generally combined with other processes such as cooking, milling or malting that may directly influence the fermentation process. However, the lack of control of each unit operation and of their combined effects renders it difficult to ensure the consistent quality of the product and particularly its safety to meet the demand of new urban consumers in Africa, and furthermore in Europe. The project will focus on four fermented cereal-based products of Africa eaten as non-alcoholic cold beverages (Gowé and Akpan), gruel (Kishk) or thick paste (Kenkey).

Meat and fish products

Dried meat or dried fish refers to those products even if they are also frequently salted, fermented and/or smoked. In fact, as drying is not always sufficient to stabilise the products, processes combine the inhibitory effects on microorganisms of chemical compounds: NaCl has a dual effect of lowering the water activity (aW) and a specific inhibitory effect of the Na+ ion. Phenolic compounds of smoke inhibit oxidation reactions and organic acids and bacteriocins are produced by lactic acid bacteria during fermentation. Lack of knowledge about the sequence of the unit operations, non-controlled processes and lack of equipment adapted involve wide variations of the stability and quality of traditional products. Due to the high degree of smoking, traditional smoked products show a dark colour and a specific flavour that meet consumers’ specific requirements. However, a strong deposit of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) on the surface of the food leads to a public health hazard. The project focuses on one meat product (Kitoza) in Madagascar (also known as Biltong in South Africa) and two fish products (Lanhoin & Kong) in West Africa.

Plant based extracts for functional foods

Many parts of plants are traditionally used locally to prepare drinks or foods rich in bioactive compounds. The dry calyx of the red flower of hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa  L.) or the fruit pulp of the baobab (Adansonia digitata  L.) are usually used to make fresh juices. Jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana  Lam.) can be dried and reduced in flour to prepare various foods.