Spontaneous and controlled fermentation to improve nutritional value of Ikpakpa beans, Phaseolus vulgaris

• Published in: Cogent engineering Vol. 9; no. 1
• Main Authors: Alagbe, E.E, Okoye, G.C, Amoo, T.E, Adekeye, B.T, Taiwo, O.S, Adeyemi, A.O, Daniel, E.O
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Cogent 31.12.2022; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Carbohydrates; Cooking; Fermentation; fermented foods; food poisoning; French beans; hemaglutinins; Kidney beans; lectins; Legumes; Microbial profiling; Microorganisms; Proteins; proximate analysis; Shelf life
• ISSN: 2331-1916; 2331-1916
• DOI: 10.1080/23311916.2022.2066823

The red kidney beans found in the Esanland of Edo State, Nigeria, popularly known as Ikpakpa, are a variety of Phaseolus vulgaris. However, a lack of awareness about this indigenous legume and a lack of easy culinary applications are factors that lead to its low use. The very long hours of cooking, coupled with frequent changing of the cooking water, makes it very unattractive to the present generation. In this work, a novel attempt is made to have a culinary product from ikpakpa via spontaneous and controlled fermentation of the beans (Ikpakpa) and investigate their impact on the product's nutritional value. Endogeneous microorganisms were used for spontaneous fermentation, while Bacillus subtilis was used for the control fermentation. Two routes of Ikpakpa preparation were followed: viz; beans were boiled for 8 hours to be soft, dehulled, and fermented; and the raw beans soaked overnight and dehulled, boiled for 4 hours fermented. After 5 days of fermentation, the proximate analysis results showed better results for the spontaneous fermentation via route 1, increasing protein and carbohydrate content by 18% and 36%, respectively. Both spontaneous and controlled fermentation were not favoured via route 2 as a decrease in protein and carbohydrate content by 13.5%/77.4% and 54.2%/66,4%, respectively. The duration for fermentation may have been too long to sustain the protein and carbohydrate content. It is, therefore, recommended that more research on the optimal fermentation duration be investigated and shelf-life studies conducted on the products.