ABSTRACT

This study evaluated the cyanocobalamin and folate levels in fermenting maize to akamu using lactic acid bacteria. A total of four (4) different species of Lactic acid bacteria were isolated from the nunu milk samples. The details of these Lactic Acid Bacterial isolates comprises of L casei, L plantarum, L fermentum, and L acidophilus. The Total Lactic Acid bacteria count observed in this study ranged from 4.7×104cfu/ml to 5.4 ×104cfu/ml with sample A4 giving the highest count of 5.4 ×104cfu/ml whereas sample A1 had the lowest lactic acid bacterial count of 4.7×104cfu/ml. it was observed that L. acidophilus is the most frequently occurring isolates with a percentage occurrence of (40.0%), followed by L. casei with a percentage occurrence of (30.0%), then  L. plantarum with a percentage occurrence of (20.0%) whereas L. fermentum has the least percentage occurrence of (10.0%). The results of the determination of Cobalamin (vitamin B12) and Folate (vitamin B9) levels in fermenting maize as represented in table 5 indicates that the Cobalamin (vitamin B12) level in the fermenting maize recorded 0.037mg/ml at the beginning of fermentation (steeping period), then increased to 0.11mg/ml at the end of the fermentation. Contrary to this, The Folate (vitamin B9) level in the fermenting maize recorded 0.0031mg/ml at the beginning of fermentation (steeping period), then reduced to0.0012mg/ml at the end of the fermentation process. Increasing levels of B-group vitamins in fermented cereals are possible through the selection of microbial species and implementation of fermentation conditions. Different strategies may be applied to improve microbial production of vitamins in cereals fermented products. These strategies include (1) selection of natural overproducers using chemicals, (2) strains selection whitin culture collections, (3) increasing vitamins bioavailability and (4) use of genetically modified LAB (GM-LAB)