Evaluation of Mucuna Beans Flour Fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum as a Probiotic Food

Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate Mucuna beans flour fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum in vitro and in vivo for probiotic activities. The L. plantarum used was isolated from neonate ‘ogi’ made from sorghum thereafter, which was screened for growth and survival in the mucuna beans flour.

Methodology: The methods used involved overnight broth cultures of test isolates L. plantarum which were centrifuged at 10,000 rpm for 15 min. The pellets were rinsed out thrice with 10 ml phosphate buffer saline (PBS) into sterilized universal bottles and kept as stock cultures in the refrigerator at 4 ± 2°C. The total viable cells in the stock solution was then determined using serial dilution and pour plate methods. Proximate analysis was carried out on both the fermented and un-fermented samples.

Results: From the results obtained during the study, at the end of 72 hour fermentation at 37°C, the L. plantarum showed appreciable growth (8.83x106 cfu/g). After storage for 14 days at refrigeration (4 ± 2°C) and room temperature (25 ± 2°C), there was a considerable increase in the lactobacillus found in the products stored at room temperature (13.67±32.40x106 cfu/g) compared to the one stored at refrigeration temperature (8.47±2.19 x105 cfu/g). It was observed that there was a steady increase in the total titratable acidity and temperature with concomitant reduction in the pH of samples during the fermentation period. The proximate analysis showed that there was an increase in the protein and moisture contents with decrease in Carbohydrates, fats, fibre and ash contents of the fermented samples compared to the unfermented sample. Furthermore, the body weight of the rats fed with the fermented product was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher than the control group. Also, the Haematological analysis showed that the rats infected with the pathogens and later fed with the fermented mucuna beans flour recovered fully since their values are well within the permissible limit and are not significantly (p ≤ 0.05) different from the control group.

Conclusion: The results obtained suggest that mucuna beans flour fermented with L. plantarum could be used as an ideal probiotic food.