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Fermentation Atlas

Cereals and bread from Burkina Faso, Ghana

Ben-saalga (and ben-kida)ben-saalga

sour, thin pearl-millet gruel. Made in 4 steps over 27 h. The longest step, soak millet, takes 16 h (Tou E.H 2006). Yeasts and Lactic acid bacteria, including amylolytic strains (12 % of LAB); Limosilactobacillus fermentum, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, Pediococcus do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step16 hMeasured[s1b][s2b]Soak millet
AciditypH 4Measured[s1b][s3]Settle and ferment sediment
DocumentedCereals and bread27 hMore cereals and breadMore from Ghana

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.
pearl millet
ginger
mint
pepper
Starter: spontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 27 h

Start
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Close-up: water moving into a grain

What changes: Millet soaks about 16 hours while yeasts start to ferment it

Step 1 of 4
Soak millet
Time
16 h
Measured
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: soaked grain.

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

Safety

The thin gruel has a low energy density, about 30 kcal/100 g, a concern for infant feeding [s1b]. Fermentation cuts phytate by about 75 % and raffinose by about 83 % [s1b, s2b].

History and sources

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

  1. [s1] Tamang et al. 2016, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00377/fullpaper
  2. [s1b] Tou E.H., Guyot J.P., Mouquet-Rivier C., Rochette I., Counil E., Traoré A.S., Trèche S. 2006, Study through surveys and fermentation kinetics of the traditional processing of pearl millet into ben-saalga, Int J Food Microbiol 106(1):52–60, doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2005.05.010paper
  3. [s2b] Guyot J.P. et al. 2004, proceedings abstract, https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010036797paper
  4. [s3] Tou E.H. et al. 2007, Food Chem 100:935-943, doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2005.11.007paper