Upscaling the traditional processing of akpan for conquering urban consumers

Summary

In West Africa, maize is traditionally transformed into starch slurry, which after fermentation gives an acidic starch called “ogi” that is used in Benin to prepare “akpan”, a product resembling yoghurt and appreciated for its white colour, sour taste, smooth appearance, and a floury mouthfeel. However, like many other traditional foods, maize akpan suffers from inconsistent quality, and concerns about the safety of consumers, which limit its valorisation. To understand the contribution of processing technologies to these constraints, this project focused on the intermediate products between maize grains and akpan. Results show that certain processing steps are key for the characteristics of maize starch before and after fermentation. How long the fermentation lasts also plays a great role. In addition, this thesis presents several important requirements to move towards a controlled fermentation of maize starch and a standard technology that guarantee a consistent quality of maize akpan.