EVALUATION OF THE SAFETY ASSESSMENT OF LYSINE-PRODUCING LACTIC ACID BACTERIA AND YEAST ISOLATED FROM OGI, A FERMENTED SORGHUM GRUE

Ogi is a traditional Nigerian food product derived from cereals like maize, sorghum, and millet. One of the major sources of bacterial contamination of Ogi production is bad water coupled with unhygienic conditions of processing and handling associated with indigenous processes. Lysine is one of the essential amino acids required for human and animal growth. Microbial food safety is a public health concern and
fresh Ogi is known to house an array of Lactic acid bacteria such as Lactobacillus plantarum which are fermenters. This study was carried out to evaluate or determine the safety assessment and how poor production of Ogi is detrimental to human health. Since the relevance of these fermenting organisms during fermentation is indispensable, it is paramount that the safety assessment to the use of these
organisms as starter cultures in the production of ogi and other fermented foods is evaluated. Morphological tests (cellular and colony morphology), physiological tests (growth at different pH and temperatures), and biochemical tests (catalase, motility, citrate) were carried out to further distinguish and confirm the Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) and yeast organisms that were suspected. For the purpose of my study, evaluation of safety assessment was carried out this includes; gelatinase production, DNase production and hemolysis production. Six LAB and yeast were isolated from traditionally made Ogi a fermented sorghum gruel. They isolates were identified and characterized based on some morphological, physiological, and biochemical tests. Some of the species includes; Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus casei, Saccharomyces cerevisae, Candida famata etc. In conclusion, the safety assessment
of lysine producing LAB and yeast isolated from Ogi, a fermented sorghum gruel was evaluated in this study. Thus, safety assessment of the lysine producing LAB and yeast isolated from Ogi will help in optimizing the application and the performances of the microorganisms for better food safety and related products.