Comparative Microbial Assessment of Fermented Lima Bean (Phaseolus lunatus) and Locust Bean (Parkia biglobossa) in Production of Daddawa

Aim: Daddawa is a condiment traditionally produced from fermentation of locust bean (Parkia biglobossa).This study is directed at exploitation of lima bean–an underutilized but cultivated legume for production of daddawa analogue-a popular West African food condiment. Microbiological characteristics of the two condiments are compared.
Methodology: Lima bean and locust bean seeds were separately heat processed and fermented into daddawa analogue and daddawa respectively. The microbial load, microbial types and their succession in fermented samples were monitored over a fermentation period of 72h.
Results: Results showed that total viable bacteria count increased from 4.74 to 9.25 and 5.87 to 8.10 (log CFUg-1) within 72h of fermentation in fermenting lima bean and locust bean respectively. The bacteria isolates from the fermenting lima bean and locust bean were identified as Bacillus subtilis, B. licheniformis,B. brevis, B. coagulans, B. pumilus and B. megaterium.
B. licheniformis occurred virtually throughout the fermentation period in the tested legumes while B. subtilis and B. pumilus were isolated from 24th and 36th h till the end of fermentation in the fermented lima bean samples respectively.
Conclusions: The study has established that daddawa produced from the two legumes have similar microbiological characteristics. Production of daddawa from locust bean has not been commercialized to date as result of unreliable source of raw material. Locust bean is presently obtained from the wild. Lima bean which is cultivated could be a sustainable raw material for this food condiment which is popular in many West African communities.