ABSTRACTThis study investigated the quality attributes of ogiri produced from fluted pumpkin, egusi and castor oil bean seeds, using L. acidophilus, L. fermentum and Enterococcus sp. starter cultures. The total bacterial count, total coliform, and total fungi count of the starter culture inoculated ogiri samples were determined during storage using standard microbiological techniques. Proximate composition, minerals, anti-nutritional contents of the ogiri samples as well as the sensory evaluation of soups prepared from the ogiri samples was also determined. Bacterial count ranged from 8.4 x 10³ to 1.36 x 10⁷ cfu/g; castor oil bean ogiri inoculated with L.acidophilus recorded the lowest. Total coliform count ranged from 3.2 x 10² to 8.3 x 10³, the lowest was recorded for fluted pumpkin ogiri fermented with L. acidophilus (FPL1). The fungi count ranged from 1.7 x 10³ to 8.4 x 10⁶ cfu/g, castor oil bean ogiri fermented with L. fermentum recorded the lowest. Results of proximate composition showed that dry matter (%) ranged from 65.20 to 86.50, moisture content (%) of the samples ranged from 13.50 to 34.80, protein content ranged from 12.60 to 27.98 mg/100g, ether extract content ranged from 5.01 to 10.04%. crude fibre ranged from 2.87 to 7.32%, ash content ranged from 2.12 to 4.77%, carbohydrate content ranged from 8.45 to 17.24%. The mineral compositions of the castor oil bean seed ogiri over a 9 day storage period are as follows: calcium (0.61-0.94 mg/100g), magnesium (0.29-0.63 mg/100g), sodium (0.02- 0.11 mg/100g), zinc (0.03-0.09), iron (0.05-0.13 mg/100g) and potassium (0.05-0.28 mg/100g). Calcium and magnesium occurred more abundantly in the LAB inoculated samples than in controls. The mineral composition of the egusi ogiri showed that calcium ranged from 0.52 to 1.03, magnesium 0.62 to 1.16 mg/100g, sodium 0.29 to 0.71 mg/100g, zinc 0.15 to 0.49 mg/100g, iron 0.26 to 0.52 mg/100g and potassium 0.12 to 0.35 mg/100g. Sensory scores of the soups prepared with ogiri samples ranged from 2.07 to 5.67, 2.54 to 6.40 and 3.15 to 6.41 for colour, aroma and general acceptability respectively. There was significant difference (p<0.05) in the mean sensory scores between the soups prepared with ogiri fermented with LAB isolates and the control samples. It was concluded that the use of LAB isolates enhanced nutritional, long shelf life and sensory qualities of ogiri products over the control samples.