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Other from North-west Benin

Dikouanyouri (fermented whole baobab seed, Benin)dikouanyouri

Dikouanyouri is a sauce flavouring of the Otamari of north-west Benin, made from whole baobab seeds whose hard coats cannot be removed. The seeds are boiled soft for hours, left in a pot for about three days, pounded with a little potash and fermented one more night, then sun-dried. Bacillus and lactic acid bacteria do the work, and the finished paste is near neutral, at pH 6.5.

Fully documentedOther8.2 days – 10 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceVillage proportions recorded from three local processors in north-west Benin; there is no fixed recipe beyond the water and potash ratios.
Baobab seedsWhole, with the seed coat on[Chadare2010]
Water for cookingAbout 12 volumes per volume of seedsThe water left after cooking is thrown away[Chadare2010]
Liquid potashAbout 0.25 L per kg of cooked seedsAdded to the pounded seeds before the second fermentation[Chadare2010]
StarterThe thesis presumes the lactic acid bacteria come from the vessels, utensils and other contamination after cooking

Total time across the recorded steps: 8.2 days – 10 days

Start
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shapes, not to countBacillus

What changes: Whole baobab seeds boil for hours until the hard coats soften

Step 1 of 5
Boil the whole seeds soft
Time
5–8 h
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Bacillus
Lactic acid bacteria
Bacillus spp.

The long boiling uses a lot of firewood; it is needed because the coats stay on. Output: cooked whole seeds, drained.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
seed coats soften
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Bacillus may survive the cooking, which could explain why it dominates the ferment

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

At a glance

Dikouanyouri is a sauce flavouring of the Otamari of north-west Benin, made from whole baobab seeds whose hard coats cannot be removed. The seeds are boiled soft for hours, left in a pot for about three days, pounded with a little potash and fermented one more night, then sun-dried. Bacillus and lactic acid bacteria do the work, and the finished paste is near neutral, at pH 6.5. Made in 5 steps over 8.2 days – 10 days. The longest step, sun-dry and store, takes 5–7 days (Chadare F.J. 2010). Bacillus spp. and Lactic acid bacteria do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step5–7 daysReported[Chadare2010]Sun-dry and store
Temperature24–31 °CReported[Chadare2010]Ferment in a pot
AciditypH 6.7 → 6.5Measured[Chadare2010][Chadare2010efn]Ferment again overnight

What makes this one different

Dikouanyouri is made from whole baobab seeds with the coat on, so it needs hours of boiling and potash. Tayohounta, from the same villages, uses dehulled, roasted kernels and ferments for two days with no potash.

Related ferments

Safety

Village production is not hygienically controlled, and fresh dikouanyouri is moist enough to spoil quickly, which is why it is sun-dried [Chadare2010]. Liquid potash is water filtered through the ash of burnt baobab parts [Chadare2010]. The sources do not test it, but ash lye can be strongly caustic. A Nigerian study of sorghum-ash lye for dawadawan botso, a different alkaline condiment, measured pH 13.6–13.7 [ibrahim2014]. Strong lye can burn skin and eyes, and the throat and stomach if swallowed [medlineplus-lye], so raw potash solution is not tasted or splashed.

History and sources

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

Chadare and colleagues documented it among 35 baobab foods of Benin. It is the least often eaten of the three fermented baobab foods of the Otamari, mostly when seeds are plentiful [Chadare2010].

  1. [ibrahim2014] Ibrahim A.D., Pedavoah M.M., Bawa S.M., Sani A. 2014, An attempt towards standardization of the production process of dawadawan botso (a fermented condiment), African Journal of Biotechnology 13(35):3628–3637, doi:10.5897/AJB2014.13871paper
  2. [medlineplus-lye] MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia (US National Library of Medicine), Sodium hydroxide poisoninggov
  3. [Chadare2010] Chadare F.J. 2010, Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) foods from Benin: composition, processing and quality, PhD thesis, Wageningen University, ch. 3 and ch. 5paper
  4. [Chadare2010efn] Chadare F.J., Gayet D.P., Azokpota P., Nout M.J.R., Linnemann A.R., Hounhouigan J.D., van Boekel M.A.J.S. 2010, Three traditional fermented baobab foods from Benin, Mutchayan, Dikouanyouri and Tayohounta: preparation, properties and consumption, Ecology of Food and Nutrition 49(4):279–297, doi:10.1080/03670244.2010.491051 (text read as thesis ch. 5)paper
  5. [Chadare2013] Chadare F.J., Hounhouigan J.D., Nout M.J.R., van Boekel M.A.J.S. 2013, Ethno-food knowledge of baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) and characterisation of its traditional fermented novel foods from Benin, Acta Horticulturae 979:187-194, doi:10.17660/ActaHortic.2013.979.17 (abstract)paper