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Technology
and physico-chemical characteristics of Bikalga, alkaline
fermented seeds of Hibiscus sabdariffa
Charles Parkouda1, Bréhima
Diawara1 and Labia Irène Ivette Ouoba2*
1Département
de Technologie Alimentaire (DTA/IRSAT/CNRST), 03 BP: 7047
Ouagadougou 03, Burkina Faso.
2Microbiology
Research Unit, Department of Health and Human Sciences,
London Metropolitan University, 166-220 Holloway Road,
London N7 8DB, United Kingdom.
*Corresponding author. Email:
I.Ouoba@londonmet.ac.uk
or
ouobairene@hotmail.com. Tel: +44 020 7133 2155. Fax: +44
020 7133 2571.
Accepted 18 January, 2008 |
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Bikalga is a product of traditional alkaline fermentation of
Hibiscus sabdariffa used as food condiment in African
countries including Burkina Faso. Its production process was
studied at different production sites of Burkina Faso where
the different steps of the technology were recorded,
specific diagram of production of each production site was
established and a general flow diagram proposed. The changes
in pH throughout the fermentation was measured and the
proximate composition of unfermented and fermented seeds was
determined. The presence of minerals in both unfermented and
fermented seeds was also determined by spectrophotometry.
The production of Bikalga involves many steps with the most
important being cleaning, cooking (with addition of
alkalinizing ash leachate), fermentations, steaming and
drying. During the process, pH increased with cooking and
fermentation (pH 8 - 9), then decreased mainly with steaming
and drying (pH 6 in some cases). The studied raw seeds were
composed of 28.69
±
1.15% of crude proteins, 21.93
±
0.74% of crude lipids, 26.39
±
1.03 % of carbohydrates and the fermented seed showed 26.47
±
1.5 for proteins 23.19
±
1.25 for crude lipids and 13.7
±
0.62 for carbohydrates. An increase of moisture and ash
content as well as total titratable and fat acidity occurred
with the fermentation. Variable minerals were detected in
the seeds with an outstanding increase (in some cases) of
potassium and a pronounced increase of sulphur, sodium and
calcium in the final product.
Key words:
Hibiscus sabdariffa, alkaline fermentation, Bikalga,
technology, proximate composition. |
