This research investigated effect of fermentation time and cereal type on the total reducing sugar (TRS), total sugar (TSS), and total free amino acid (TFA) during the production of ogi. The result showed that TFA generally increased with increase in fermentation time (7.916 – 17.596 mg/g). Maize, acha and sorghum ogi had the lowest total reducing sugar (TRS) at 0 h (16.927glucose mg/g), 12 h (16.655 glucose mg/g) and 48 h (18.212 glucose mg/g) respectively and TSS was lowest in acha ogi from 12 h to 48 h (33.191 - 34.370 glucose mg/g). Principal component analysis and Agglomerative hierarchical clustering were used to evaluate the variability in sugar and amino acid contents and ranked the contributions of the variables. The factors were divided into four principal components with cumulative variance contribution rate of 87.47%. The result showed that acha and sorghum ogi had lower sugar content than maize ogi during fermentation. This research suggested that maize, acha and sorghum can be used in the production of cereal based ogi for weaning food at 48 h due to high free amino acid content, and also advanced the use of acha in production of ogi for diabetic patients due to its low total sugar content.

The aim of the study was to investigate the preservative effect of turmeric paste on African catfish in tomato sauce with a view to producing ready-to-eat catfish and reduce the stress of processing. The microorganisms associated with the products were enumerated, isolated and identified, lipid oxidation was monitored, and the organoleptic properties were assessed. The microbial load ranged between 0.000 and 2.635 log cfu/g during storage. Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus coagulans were isolated and there was no presence of pathogenic microorganisms. The range of free fatty acid, peroxide and thiobarbituric acid values were 0.3 – 0.5% oleic acid, 0.00 – 0.07 meqO2/kg of sample and 0.00 – 4.69 mg MDA/g respectively. Addition of turmeric had no significant effect (p > 0.05) on the taste, texture, aroma, colour and overall acceptability of the canned African catfish in tomato sauce samples. This study therefore established that addition of 3% and 4% turmeric paste to African catfish was effective in limiting microbial growth and reducing hydrolytic rancidity without having negative effect on consumer acceptability.

Ogi, a popular breakfast cereal and weaning food in West Africa was produced from maize, acha and sorghum. Ogi was produced from the three cereals and the gruels obtained were subjected to fermentation. The total starch content and alpha amylase activity during the period of fermentation of the ogi slurries were evaluated using standard methods. Total starch content was determined at 0, 12, 24, 36 and 48 h and α-amylase activity was also determined at 10 oC, 20 oC, 30 oC, 40 oC at 0, 12, 24, 36 and 48 h. The outcome of the research showed that α-amylase activity increased with increase in temperature and was highest in maize ogi (1.507 – 4.458 E. U) while acha ogi (0.497 – 3.219 E. U) had the lowest α-amylase activity . The starch content decreased with increase in time of fermentation time and was highest in maize ogi while acha ogi had the lowest. This shows that the higher the temperature of fermentation and longer fermentation time can increase the breakdown of starch by α-amylase in ogi slurry. The result of the Principal component analysis (PCA) showed distinct similarity in maize and acha. Agglomerative hierarchical clustering grouped acha into two groups (groups one and two) but grouped all maize and sorghum ogi samples together into group three. Due to the low starch content and low α-amylase activity observed in acha, it could be utilized in the production of gluten-free ogi with low glycemic index especially for vulnerable groups.