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Fermentation Atlas

Soft drinks from Ghana

Asaana (aliha, Ghanaian caramelised maize drink)asaana

Asaana is a sweet-sour Ghanaian drink made from malted maize. The malt is milled, soaked and boiled until the foam clears, then strained and left to ferment for about three days before caramelised sugar is stirred in. In the Volta Region the same drink is called aliha. Made in 5 steps over 3 days. The longest step, ferment the wort, takes 3 days (Madilo F.K 2025). Lactic acid bacteria, which rise as the acid climbs between 24 and 72 h and Limosilactobacillus fermentum and the yeast Pichia kudriavzevii, isolated from spontaneously fermented aliha and tested as starters do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3 daysReported[madilo2025][madilo2022]Ferment the wort
Temperature20–25 °CReported[madilo2025]Boil until the foam clears, cool and strain
AciditypH 6.3 → 2.67Measured[madilo2025]Ferment the wort
Fully documentedSoft drinks3 daysMore soft drinksMore from Ghana

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedMade by small producers and street vendors with no fixed amounts. A survey of 126 aliha producers found four different production methods.
Maize · Washed, soaked and malted, then dried and milled[madilo2025]
Water[madilo2025][madilo2022]
Sugar, part of it caramelised · Caramel and sugar are named as main ingredients by producers[madilo2022]
Starter: spontaneous; some producers backslop from an earlier batch

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: maize grains soaked and left to sprout into malt

Step 1 of 5
Wash, soak and malt the maize
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
L. fermentum
Yeasts

Output: sprouted maize, then dried malt.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Asaana is a malted maize drink that is boiled before it ferments, soured for about three days and then sweetened with caramel, which gives its brown colour. Thobwa and togwa are thick malted porridges; asaana is strained to a thin drink.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Backslopped alihaStarted with liquid from an earlier batch; safer and quicker than the original method.
  • Starter-culture alihaFermented 24 h with Limosilactobacillus fermentum and Pichia kudriavzevii in trials.

Safety

Vended asaana often carries high counts of bacteria and fungi, including E. coli, because of poor hygiene during preparation and storage. Producers are advised to backslop or use starter cultures, which sour the drink faster and cut Enterobacteriaceae, and to keep the drink cold.

Hazards the sources name: Enterobacteriaceae, high early in fermentation; the 'original' method was highly contaminated; Escherichia coli and total counts above 10^6 CFU/ml in vended asaana.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Asaana is a street and cafeteria drink across Ghana. Studies of aliha, the Volta Region form, find it made mostly by small producers with several different methods.

  1. [madilo2022] Madilo F.K., Parry-Hanson Kunadu A., Tano-Debrah K., Mensah G.I., Saalia F.K., Kolanisi U. 2022, Process and product characterization of aliha, a maize-based Ghanaian indigenous fermented beverage, Journal of Food Quality 2022:5604342, doi:10.1155/2022/5604342 (abstract)paper
  2. [madilo2025] Madilo F.K., Letsyo E., Kortei N.K., Adzinyo O.A., Kunadu A.P. 2025, Production and quality characteristics of starter culture fermented aliha, a maize-based indigenous fermented beverage, International Journal of Food Science, doi:10.1155/ijfo/6665795paper
  3. [aboagye2020] Aboagye G., Gbolonyo-Cass S., Kortei N.K., Annan T. 2020, Microbial evaluation and some proposed good manufacturing practices of locally prepared malted corn drink (asaana) and Hibiscus sabdariffa calyxes extract (sobolo) beverages sold at a university cafeteria in Ghana, Scientific African 8:e00330, doi:10.1016/j.sciaf.2020.e00330 (abstract)paper
  4. [wp] Wikipedia (en), Asaana (names only)wiki