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Fermentation Atlas

Cereals and bread from Ghana

Hausa koko (spiced fermented millet porridge)koko

Pearl millet is steeped 12 to 24 hours, milled with spices and sieved into a slurry that sours for 8 to 12 hours and settles into sediment and sour water. Boiling water is stirred into the slurry to make a smooth, spicy, thin porridge, sweetened with sugar. Made in 5 steps over 20 h – 36 h. The longest step, steep the millet, takes 12–24 h (Atter A 2021). Weissella confusa and Limosilactobacillus fermentum (dominant of 215 LAB isolates), with Ligilactobacillus salivarius and Pediococcus spp. and Limosilactobacillus pontis, L. fermentum, L. reuteri, Pediococcus acidilactici, P. pentosaceus, Lacticaseibacillus paracasei, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, Schleiferilactobacillus harbinensis, Weissella confusa do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step12–24 hReported[atter2021][atter2024]Steep the millet
AciditypH 3.5–4Measured[atter2024]Stir in boiling water
Fully documentedCereals and bread20 h – 36 hMore cereals and breadMore from Ghana

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceProportions from two studies of Ghanaian processors (process B, the more common method). Processors use no fixed grain amounts.
Pearl millet grains[atter2021]
Spices · Milled together with the steeped grain; kinds vary by processor[atter2021]
4 volumesBoiling water · Poured into 1 volume of fermented slurry (sediment and sour water together)[atter2021][atter2024]
Sugar, and sometimes milk or roasted groundnuts · Added before eating[atter2021]
Starterspontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 20 h – 36 h

Start
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Close-up: water moving into a grainpH 6–6.5

What changes: Millet steeps in water and the fermentation begins

Step 1 of 5
Steep the millet
Time
12–24 h
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH 6–6.5
Measured
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Limosilactobacillus
Pediococcus
Weissella

Output: steeped millet.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

fermentation starts during the steep

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

Hausa koko is a thin, spiced porridge made from a sieved millet slurry that has soured only 8 to 12 hours. It is cooked by pouring boiling water into the whole slurry. Ogi, by contrast, sours the settled starch for days and is sold as a wet cake.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Koko sour waterThe sour top layer of the fermented slurry, drunk raw as a remedy for diarrhoea. Fresh samples hold about 10^8 CFU/ml of lactic acid bacteria.
  • Process A (Lei and Jakobsen 2004)The method studied by Lei and Jakobsen in 2004. It is less common than process B, the method described on this page.

Safety

The raw grain carries Gram-negative bacteria such as Enterobacteriaceae, and cereal porridges in Ghana have been found contaminated with Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus. The finished porridge reaches pH 3.51–3.99. It is made with boiling water and sold hot, so eat it hot and fresh.

Hazards the sources name: Enterobacteriaceae, Escherichia–Shigella, Clostridium and Staphylococcus, dominant in the raw grain before fermentation (amplicon sequencing).

History and sources

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

Hausa koko is made in small home-based businesses using two main methods. Most processors now use process B, studied by Atter et al.; Lei and Jakobsen studied process A in 2004.

  1. [atter2021] Atter A., Diaz M., Tano-Debrah K., Kunadu A.P.-H., Mayer M.J., Colquhoun I.J., Nielsen D.S., Baker D., Narbad A., Amoa-Awua W. 2021, Microbial diversity and metabolite profile of fermenting millet in the production of Hausa koko, a Ghanaian fermented cereal porridge, Frontiers in Microbiology 12:681983, doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.681983paper
  2. [atter2024] Atter A., Diaz M., Tano-Debrah K., Kunadu A.P.-H., Mayer M.J., Sayavedra L., Misita C., Amoa-Awua W., Narbad A. 2024, The predominant lactic acid bacteria and yeasts involved in the spontaneous fermentation of millet during the production of the traditional porridge Hausa koko in Ghana, BMC Microbiology 24:163, doi:10.1186/s12866-024-03317-1paper
  3. [lei2004] Lei V., Jakobsen M. 2004, Microbiological characterization and probiotic potential of koko and koko sour water, African spontaneously fermented millet porridge and drink, Journal of Applied Microbiology 96:384–397, doi:10.1046/j.1365-2672.2004.02162.x (abstract)paper