Production of Attieke by the Technique of Drying of Cassava Ferment

The long-term availability of cassava ferment and the production of attieke of healthy and consistent quality are becoming serious problems in Côte d’Ivoire. The overall objective of this work was to assess the effect of several drying techniques on the performance of the traditional cassava ferment with a view to establishing a stabilized ferment for the production of attieke in Côte d’Ivoire. To do this, three drying techniques were used, namely, oven drying, sun drying, and freeze-drying. The end of the drying process is marked by the stabilization of the humidity rate of the ferment. The results obtained during the drying process indicate that the sun-dried ferment contains more GAM (1.2 ± 0.2) × 108 CFU/g than the other dried ferments. The freeze-dried ferment has the highest load of lactic acid bacteria (3 ± 0.2) × 105 CFU/g, while Bacillus was observed in large numbers in the ferment dried at 45°C (7.1 ± 0.6) × 105 CFU/g. The 37°C dried and freeze-dried cassava ferments recorded high yeast loads of (7.6 ± 0.5) × 104 CFU/g and (7 ± 0.4) × 104 CFU/g, respectively. Moulds ((5 ± 0.2) 1 × 102 CFU/g) were only detected in the 37°C dried culture. Moreover, during the fermentation of the cassava dough with the different ferments obtained after drying, a significant acidification occurs in the dough inoculated with the freeze-dried ferment (2.9 ± 0.07%). However, the attieke produced with the freeze-dried ferment and the ferment dried at 37°C was the most appreciated by the panelists. Thus, freeze-drying and oven drying at 37°C are simple alternatives to the use of traditional ferments that can ensure their stability and the conservation of the cassava ferment over a long period of time.