No abstract

Fermented pork fat (sa-um) is traditionally and extensively consumed in Northeast Indian region for several decades. However, no scientific reports are available regarding its nutritional value as well as its potential health risks. The objective of this work was essentially the characterization of sa-um using a polyphasic approach, viz., physicochemical, electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI+-MS) and metagenomic analysis in order to gain an understanding of the nutrient contents and microbial population diversity. On a dry weight basis, about 91% fat, 2% carbohydrate and 0.70% protein were present. ESI+-MS analysis of sa-um revealed the presence of various polar and neutral lipids corresponding to monoacylglyceride, diacylglyceride and triacylglyceride species. The dominant bacterial phyla were Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes. A total of 72 bacterial genera were identified, largely abundant with Clostridium species including C. butyricum, C. citroniae, C. methylpentosum, C. perfringens, C. saccharogumia and C. tetani. The imputed functional profiles of bacterial communities were predominantly involved in energy, carbohydrate and amino acid metabolisms. Furthermore, this study deduces the presence of pro-inflammatory molecules as well as antibiotic resistance genes associated with the bacterial families such as Bacillaceae, Bacteroidaceae, Clostridiaceae, Corynebacteriaceae and Enterobacteriaceae which might be a major health concern for the sa-um consuming population.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13568-018-0695-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

No abstract

No abstract

Effect of controlled and uncontrolled fermentation temperature on the microbial load, biochemical changes and change in nutritive value of bekang-um was studied in an attempt to upgrade the traditional fermentation technology of soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr. The sterile cooked beans were fermented using a low-cost wooden incubator developed previously, adjusted at a constant temperature (35°C) and also under direct sunlight for 4 days following the traditional method. The microbial load, biochemical changes and changes in nutritive values of both the beans fermented were compared under controlled and uncontrolled temperature. The result showed that the viable cell counts, pH, free amino acids, proteolytic activity and alpha amylase activity increased in both the fermenting conditions throughout the process while the reducing sugar increased in the first day and decreased gradually with fermentation in both conditions. There is also an increase in moisture, protein and calorific value, and a decrease in carbohydrate, fats and ash value in both conditions. Fermentation under controlled temperature gave the higher levels of alpha amylase and proteolytic activities, viable cell counts, pH, free amino acids and nutritive value. These results suggested that fermentation proceeds at higher rate under controlled temperature using low-cost incubator could be utilized for the commercial production of bekang-um as the fermentation time could be reduced from three days to two days in addition to its simpler technology.