Effect of lactic acid bacteria starter culture fermentation of cassava on chemical and sensory characteristics of fufu flour

The effects of lactic acid fermentation of cassava on the chemical and sensory characteristic of fufu flour were investigated. Two strains of Lactobacillus plantarum were used as starter cultures for thefermentation of cassava to fufu for 96 h. The resultant wet fufu samples were dried at 65oC in a cabinet dryer for 48 h and analyzed for chemical and sensory characteristics. Fermentation caused a high reduction in the protein content of cassava, which ranges between 1.26 ± 0.02% for cassava with starter culture SL 14, and 1.14 ± 0.04% for cassava with starter culture SL 19. However, the unfermented cassava fufu flour has the highest protein content; this shows the influence of fermentation in reducing the proximate composition of cassava. The values of the sugar, starch and amylose contents show similar trends. The sugar contents ranges between 5.21 ± 0.04 to 4.41 ± 0.0%, with the unfermented sample having the highest value. When subjected to sensory evaluation, the traditional and starterculture fermented cassava fufu flour were not significantly different in terms of color, odor, and texture, but the cassava fufu flour produced using starter culture SL19 had the highest overall acceptability (