Effect of Fermentation on Bacteriological and Physicochemical Properties of ‘Ofada” Rice

Rice (Oryza sativa) is an important annual crop in Nigeria. It is one of the major staples, which can provide a nation’s population with the required food security of 2,400 calories per person per day. In Nigeria rice is one of the few food items whose consumption has no cultural, religious, ethnic or geographical boundary. Fermented rice is used to produce rice wine, spaghetti and noodles. Work was then carried out on the Nigerian rice var. ITA 150 (ofada) to determine the bacteriological and physicochemical activities during fermentation. Standard microbiological and chemical methods were used. Six microorganisms were isolated which include; Bacillus cereus, Micrococcus luteus Lactobacillus plantarum, Staphylococcus aureus, Leuconcostoc mesenteroides, and Bacillus licheniformis. It was observed that the microbial loads increased till the 72nd hours of fermentation except Staphylococcus aureus and Micrococcus luteus that their loads decreased after the 72nd hours. There was an increase in the moisture, fibre, fat and protein contents, while carbohydrate, ash and anti-nutrients contents decreased. It was evident that fermentation process contributes to the bacteriological and physicochemical properties of the fermented rice in the production of another consumable product like rice wine, kunnu –zaki, spaghetti and the noodles.