Ugba, the fermented African oilbean seeds; its production, chemical composition, preservation, safety and health benefits.

Ugba is the Ibo name of the fermented African Oilbean seeds (Pentaclethra macrophylla, Benth). It is a traditional food condiment generally produced by natural (local) fermentation in homes as a small family business. It is an important and cheap source of protein for people whose staple foods are deficient in proteins. It is also eaten as a delicacy and used as flavouring for soup. This write up aims to review all published studies on ugba in the direction of the various methods used in the production, the chemical composition of the seeds, the microorganisms involved and the biochemical changes that occur during fermentation and optimization of the fermentation. The nutritional and food values, toxicological properties, health promoting potentials, microbiological safety as well as the storage and preservation have also been highlighted.

Malting and brewing qualities of some Nigerian rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties and some thoughts on the assessment of malts from tropical cereals.

The maiting qualities of six varieties of Nigerian rice were studied and compared with malts from sorghum and barley. A minimum of seven days was necessary for maximum yield of extract from malted rice. The beer brewed from the six rice malts were similar to each other and to those from sorghum and barley in analytical properties. The appropriateness of using methods designed for assessing barley malt should be re-examined for studying malts from tropical cereals. Meanwhile, it should be sufficient to determine the extract and the nitrogen content of the wort using the European Brewing methods to assess a tropical cereal for mall.