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Fermentation Atlas

Sauces and condiments from South-west Nigeria

Otiru (fermented African yam bean condiment, Nigeria)otiru

iru-type soup seasoning sold by market women. Made in 3 steps over 8 h. The longest step, soak seeds, takes 6 h (Jeff-Agboola Y.A. et al). Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and B. subtilis do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step6 hSourced[JeffAgboola2013][Okolie2023]Soak seeds
Temperature100 °CSourced[JeffAgboola2013]Boil and dehull
AciditypH 8.5–9Sourced[PMC13025381]Ferment naturally
DocumentedSauces and condiments8 hMore sauces and condimentsMore from Nigeria

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.
African yam bean seeds (Sphenostylis stenocarpa)
Starter: spontaneous (natural); starter trials with Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and B. subtilis

Total time across the recorded steps: 8 h

Start
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Close-up: water moving into a bean

What changes: African yam beans soak overnight

Step 1 of 3
Soak seeds
Time
6 h
Sourced
Temperature
ambient; 30 (lab)
Unconfirmed
Salt
0
Unconfirmed
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Bacillus proteolysis

Output: soaked seeds.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
swollen
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

Variants

  • Owoh from African yam bean (Niger Delta)a 2026 review says owoh (Urhobo, Itsekiri) is made from cottonseed or African yam bean [PMC13564609]; see `owoh`

History and sources

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

Named in Chadare 2010 West African condiment lists. Local name and process recorded by Jeff-Agboola (2007, 2013).

  1. [JeffAgboola2013] Jeff-Agboola Y.A. et al., conference paper on otiru from fermented African yam bean (University of Medical Sciences Ondo OER repository; server returned 500, read via search extract), https://oer.unimed.edu.ng/JOURNALS/5/5/Yemisi-A-Jeff-Agboola-Underultilised-article-GhanaOER9209665.pdfpaper
  2. [Okolie2023] Okolie P.I., Itohan M.E., Okolie E.C., Obadina A. Amino acid profile and protein quality of starter cultures fermented African yam bean seed condiment. Croat J Food Sci Technol 2023;15(1):28–36, doi:10.17508/CJFST.2023.15.1.04, https://hrcak.srce.hr/304128paper
  3. [PMC13025381] Elegbeleye J., Sivakumar D. Unravelling the impact of diverse fermentation techniques on key nutrient absorption in Bambara groundnut and African yam bean: a review. Foods 2026;15(6):1109paper
  4. [PMC13564609] Ethnogeographic Distribution of Nigerian Fermented Foods and the Prospects for Bioeconomy Improvements. Foods 2026;15(17):3087paper