Ethno-food knowledge of baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) and characterisation of its traditional fermented novel foods from Benin

Adansonia digitata is a key economic tree used daily by local populations in Africa for food, medicines and cultural purposes. The aim of the study was to record the ethno-food knowledge on baobab processing and derived foods, and to further provide the properties of traditional fermented foods, for valorization purposes. Correspondence Analysis (CA) was used to link socio-cultural groups and food parameters. CA showed that the food uses of baobab parts vary from one ethnic group to another. The identified food categories were dough, gruel, drinks, sauces, snacks and flavouring agents. Some of the recorded products were fermented foods (spontaneous fermentation): Dikouanyouri (from seeds, pH=6.5), Tayohounta (from kernels, pH=7), and Mutchayan (from baobab pulp and sorghum, pH=4.2). The predominant microorganisms in Dikouanyouri and Tayohounta were Bacillus spp. (8.5 and 9.5 log cfu/g) and lactic acid acteria (8.9 and 8.4 log cfu/g) respectively. In Mutchyayan, the predominant microorganisms were lactic acid bacteria (8.1 log cfu/g) and yeasts (7.2 log cfu/g). From the outputs, strategies to improve processing techniques for production of more hygienic and safer baobab derived foods were proposed.