Preservation of Fermented Locust Beans (Parkia biglobosa) Using Essential Oil from Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus)
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2023
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Fermented locust beans (FLB), a highly nutritious condiment used
to enrich foods in many parts of Nigeria has a very low shelf life of less than
one week if unpreserved. Most of the methods used for preservation have
presented limitations which were yet to be surmounted. The efficacy of
preserving FLB using lemongrass essential oil (LGEO) was therefore
investigated in this study. The essential oil was extracted from the leaves of
Cymbopogon citratus and used to treat FLB at 2% (v/w). Untreated FLB
served as the control. All samples were stored at 28±2 ºC and withdrawn
periodically for organoleptic and microbiological analyses. Susceptibility of
microbial isolates to LGEO and the effect of the treated FLB on the hepatic
histology of rat were also investigated. Acceptance rating was high for the
treated samples up to 33 days while ratings dropped from the 19th day in the
untreated. A significant reduction of the bacterial load up to 70% due to
treatment with LGEO was achieved. Thirteen bacteria were isolated with
members of Bacillus species as the most dominant. All the isolates were
susceptible to LGEO with diameter zones of inhibition ranging from 4.0±1
mm to 57.7±1.2 mm which compared favorably with the value (highest =
22.0±1.7 mm) for many of the standard antibiotics used. Histomorphology
showed normal hepatic architecture in rats fed with LGEO-treated FLB.
Results showed that LGEO can serve as a natural and safe preservatives of
FLB.
Description
Keywords
Fermented locust beans, Lemongrass essential oil, Preservation, Safety
Citation
Saliu, B.K. and Idowu, R.E. (2023) Preservation of Fermented Locust Beans (Parkia biglobosa) Using Essential Oil from Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus). In: Advances in Biosciences Vol 2: Pg 94 - 113