Development of probiotic mutandabota, a locally sustainable functional food incorporating Lactobacillus rhamnosus

<strong>Development of probiotic <em>mutandabota</em>, a locally sustainable functional food incorporating <em>Lactobacillus rhamnosus</em></strong> <em>Mutandabota </em>or <em>umlondo </em>is an indigenous food that is consumed in Southern Africa on a daily basis. The product is made by mixing raw cow’s or goat’s milk with 14 % (wt/vol) dry pulp of the baobab fruit (<em>Adansonia digitata </em>L<em>.</em>) and 7 % sugar. <em>Mutandabota</em> has a high protein content, and is rich in vitamin C and minerals. It also provides fibre to the diet, which evidently has potential health benefits in preventing diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, some cancers and constipation. Predominant microorganisms were isolated from <em>mutandabota</em> and identified<em>. </em>This indicated that different species of bacteria and yeast survive the acidity and low pH of 3.4±0.1 in <em>mutandabota</em>. While no pathogens were isolated, the identified microorganisms are capable of spoiling the product. Preparation of <em>mutandabota</em> is a gendered activity dominated by women. A probiotic dairy product was then developed at village level on the basis of <em>mutandabota</em> to enable resource-poor populations in Southern Africa to accrue health benefits from a functional food. Raw cow’s milk was pasteurised and dry baobab fruit pulp was added to the milk at a concentration of 4 % (wt/vol). This mixture was inoculated with the probiotic <em>Lactobacillus rhamnosus </em>yoba, an isolate of <em>Lactobacillus rhamnosus </em>GG, and left to ferment for 24 h. Baobab fruit pulp at 4% promoted growth of <em>L. rhamnosus </em>yoba. More pulp and sugar were then added to produce yoba <em>mutandabota</em> with 14 % (wt/vol) baobab fruit pulp and 7 % sugar. The final pH of yoba <em>mutandabota</em> was pH 3.5, which ensured the microbiological safety of the product. Viable plate count of <em>L. rhamnosus </em>yoba was 8.8 ± 0.4 log cfu/mL at the moment of consumption, thereby meeting the criterion to have a viable count of the probiotic bacterium in excess of 6 log cfu/mL in the product. There was no significant difference (p=0.31) in consumers’ preference between traditional and yoba <em>mutandabota</em>, despite a significant difference (p<0.001) in sensorial properties of the two products. Challenge tests to evaluate the impact of <em>L. rhamnosus </em>yoba on competing pathogens in <em>mutandabota</em> were done<em>.</em> In traditional <em>mutandabota</em> (pH 3.4±0.1) some food-borne pathogens survived and withstood the acids and low pH of the product. However, yoba <em>mutandabota</em> (pH 3.4±0.1) inactivated all tested food-borne bacterial pathogens during the 24 h potential consumption time. This demonstrated that yoba <em>mutandabota</em> can be safer stored than traditional <em>mutandabota</em>. The <em>L. rhamnosus </em>yoba showed robustness and grew from 5.5 log cfu/mL to 9.0 log cfu/mL within 24 h in the presence of pathogens in yoba <em>mutandabota</em>. The outcome of this work was a safe, healthy, optimum-quality product of relevant nutritional value. Although this work focused on growth of <em>L. rhamnosus </em>yoba in <em>mutandabota</em>, the potential exists to apply this approach to other traditional foods worldwide as a low-cost method to improve dietary quality and gastro-intestinal health of consumers. Yoba <em>mutandabota</em> processing and trading may ameliorate the well-being of rural households through improvements in health status and livelihoods.