Probiotic Enrichment and Reduction of Aflatoxins in a Traditional African Maize-Based Fermented Food.

Fermentation of food products can be used for the delivery of probiotic bacteria and means of food detoxification, provided that probiotics are able to grow, and toxins are reduced in raw materials with minimal effects on consumer acceptability. This study evaluated probiotic enrichment and detoxification of , a commonly consumed traditional fermented cereal beverage in Uganda, by the use of starter culture with the probiotic yoba 2012 and C106. Probiotic was produced by fermenting a suspension of ground maize grain at 30 °C for a period of 24 h, leading to a decrease of the pH value to ≤ 4.0 and increase in titratable acidity of at least 0.2% (w/v). Probiotic was acceptable to the consumers with a score of ≥6 on a 9-point hedonic scale. The products were stable over a month's study period with a mean pH of 3.9, titratable acidity of 0.6% (w/v), and counts >10⁸ cfu g. HPLC analysis of aflatoxins of the water-soluble fraction of indicated that fermentation led to an over 1000-fold reduction of aflatoxins B₁, B₂, G₁, and G₂ spiked in the raw ingredients. In vitro fluorescence spectroscopy confirmed binding of aflatoxin B₁ to with an efficiency of 83.5%. This study shows that fermentation is a means to enrich with probiotics and reduce widely occurring aflatoxin contamination of maize products that are consumed as staple foods in sub-Saharan Africa.