Improved processing for the production of cereal-based fermented porridge enriched in folate using selected lactic acid bacteria and a back slopping process

The objective was to study the effect of two selected lactic acid bacteria, Lactobacillus plantarum 6.2 and Lactobacillus fermentum 8.2, on folate production in a cereal-based fermented porridge called ben-saalga. We profited from previous improvements in processing to produce porridges with higher energy content, by including a combination of precooking and inoculation with amylolytic strains (Lactobacillus plantarum A6 or Lactobacillus fermentum MW2), which we combined with the folate producing strains. For comparison with the action of natural microbiota, fermentation was performed by traditional and back slopping process. Folate contents were determined microbiologically. Porridges prepared with starter cultures L. plantarum 6.2 + L. fermentum MW2 or L. fermentum 8.2 + L. plantarum A6 had significantly higher (p < 0.05) folate contents (7.1 and 7.3 μg/100 g fresh matter respectively) than the porridge prepared using the traditional process (4.2 μg/100 g fresh matter). Back slopping also enabled an interesting increase in folate contents (6.1 μg/100 g fresh matter, p < 0.05). Five minutes of cooking had no significant impact on folate contents of the porridges. These results underline the feasibility of new ways to produce folate rich foods available to the poorest populations using local materials with slight modification of the processes.