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Roots and tubers from Fiji

Davuke / masi (Fijian pit-preserved breadfruit and cassava)davuke

Davuke is the Fijian way of keeping breadfruit, and also cassava and banana, by fermenting the peeled food in a pit lined with leaves. Aalbersberg and colleagues described it as a lactic acid fermentation, and the paste becomes strongly acidic. The fermented paste is cooked into a pudding or bread, often with coconut.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Davuke / masi itself.

Short entryRoots and tubers

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedHousehold and village practice; no amounts found in the sources read.
Breadfruit, cassava or bananaPeeled before it goes into the pit[aalbersberg1988]
Start
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What changes: Breadfruit or cassava is peeled for the pit

Step 1 of 3
Peel the fruit or roots
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: peeled breadfruit, cassava or banana.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Davuke is the Fijian way of keeping breadfruit, and also cassava and banana, by fermenting the peeled food in a pit lined with leaves. Aalbersberg and colleagues described it as a lactic acid fermentation, and the paste becomes strongly acidic. The fermented paste is cooked into a pudding or bread, often with coconut.

Key numbers
AciditypH up to 4Reported[mehta2023]Pack into a leaf-lined pit (davuke) and cover

What makes this one different

Davuke uses a leaf-lined pit like the other Pacific breadfruit pits but is also used for cassava and banana.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Improved davuke (1988)Aalbersberg and colleagues proposed a version needing less labour and material than the traditional pit.

Safety

Cassava holds cyanide-forming compounds that can cause vomiting, collapse and in some cases death. No source we read measures cyanide in pit-fermented cassava, so this page does not show that the pit makes it safe to eat.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

  1. [aalbersberg1988] Aalbersberg W.G.L., Lovelace C.E.A., Madhoji K., Parkinson S.V. 1988, Davuke, the traditional Fijian method of pit preservation of staple carbohydrate foods, Ecology of Food and Nutrition 21(3):173–180, doi:10.1080/03670244.1988.9991030 (abstract as quoted in search results only; the USP repository page shows a bot check and was not read)paper
  2. [mehta2023] Mehta K.A., Quek Y.C.R., Henry C.J. 2023, Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), processing, nutritional quality, and food applications, Frontiers in Nutrition 10:1156155 (cites Aalbersberg et al. 1988 for the pH)paper
  3. [aalbersberg1994] Aalbersberg W.G.L., Dreier U., Parkinson S. 1994, Microbiology of pit fermentation of breadfruit and cassava in Fiji, USP technical report (record only)other
  4. [fao1990] FAO 1990, Roots, tubers, plantains and bananas in human nutrition, ch. 7, Toxic substances and antinutritional factors (cassava toxicity)gov