ABSTRACT

Ugba is the Ibo name of the fermented African Oil bean seeds (Pentaclethra macrophylla). It is a traditional food condiment generally produced by natural fermentation and it is important and a cheap source of protein for people whose staple foods are deficient in protein.

The study was carried out to determine the microbial and organoleptic changes associate with Ugba when stored at ambient temperature.

The oil bean seed (Pentaclethra macrophylla) Ire subjected to a four day (96hmy) spontaneous fermentation to produce the Ugba used for the study of its microbial and organoleptic changed when stored at ambient temperature. The bacterial isolates recovered Ire Bacillus spp, Lactobacillus spp, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Proteus spp, Pseudomonas spp while Rhizopus spp, Aspergillus spp, Candida spp, Fusarium spp and Saccharomyces spp (yeast) Ire the fungal isolates recovered. During the fermentation Bacillus and Lactobacillus Ire predominant and persisted throughout the fermentation whereas Proteus, Esherichia coli and Pseudomonas spp Ire lost after 48hmys of fermentation a nd Staphylococcus aureus was last after 72hmys of fermentation. During fermentation it was observed that Bacillus was proteolytic and persisted throughout the fermentation process hence Ugba is considered a highly rich in protein. Fermentation improved the proximate composition of the Ugba sample. The protein content increased from the initial 18.44% to 27.64% on day four of the study. An increase from 20.63% of fat to 24.83% was recorded while crude fibre decreased from 4.33% at production time to 2.66% on the fourth day of fermentation. Progressive decrease in the Ash content and carbohydrate content was found in the result whereby Ash content had values ranging from 2.31% ( Day 1) to 1.60% ( Day 4) and carbohydrate decreased from 26.98% ( Day 1) to 5.35% (Day 4). Sensory evaluation of the Ugba based on the organoleptic properties was most acceptable to the panelists at storage for 2 and 4 days after fermentation with mean acceptability scores of 7.13, and 7.10 respectively on a 9 point hedonic scale, the least acceptable Ire firstly prepared Ugba that was stored  for 24hmys and  after 8days of storage, it is therefore advisable that consumers of Ugba should maintain the optimal storage of a maximium of 7 days.