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Cereals and bread from Northern Benin

Mutchayan (fermented cereal paste with baobab pulp)mutchayan

Mutchayan is a stiff cooked cereal paste, usually sorghum, mixed with a sour drink made from baobab fruit pulp and left covered for a day or more. Lactic bacteria and yeasts grow in it, but the baobab pulp has already made it acidic, so the pH stays near 4.2. It is thinned with water into a drink or eaten as a main dish with sauce.

Fully documentedCereals and bread24 h

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe ratio recorded from village processors in the Natitingou region; other cereals are used the same way.
Cooked sorghum paste450 gFlour boiled with water into a porridge, then thickened with more flour[chadare2010]
Baobab pulp drink450 mLMade from about 110 g of baobab pulp in water[chadare2010]
Starterspontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 24 h

Start
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pH 2.9–3.3

What changes: Baobab fruit pulp is soaked or stirred into water to make a sour drink

Step 1 of 5
Make the baobab pulp drink
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH 2.9–3.3
Reported
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Yeasts

The whole contents of a baobab fruit can be soaked in water instead of diluting separated pulp. Output: sour baobab pulp drink.

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

Mutchayan is a stiff cooked cereal paste, usually sorghum, mixed with a sour drink made from baobab fruit pulp and left covered for a day or more. Lactic bacteria and yeasts grow in it, but the baobab pulp has already made it acidic, so the pH stays near 4.2. It is thinned with water into a drink or eaten as a main dish with sauce. Made in 5 steps over 24 h. The longest step, ferment, loosely covered, takes at least 24 h (Chadare F.J 2010) and runs at 24–31 °C (Chadare F.J 2010). Lactic acid bacteria and Yeasts do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 24 hReported[chadare2010]Ferment, loosely covered
Temperature24–31 °CReported[chadare2010]Ferment, loosely covered
AciditypH 4.2Measured[chadare2010]Ferment, loosely covered

What makes this one different

Mutchayan is made like other fermented cereal doughs of Benin, such as mawè, gowé and ogi, but it is the only one enriched with baobab pulp drink. The pulp makes it acidic, about pH 4.2, before fermentation begins, so a day of fermentation changes it only mildly.

Acidity
pH 4.2 before and after fermentation, mainly from the baobab pulp
Vitamin C
About 300 g of mutchayan gives 10.7 to 11.3 mg of vitamin C, all from the baobab pulp

Related ferments

Variants

  • Maize or millet mutchayanMaize or millet flour in place of sorghum; the studied form used sorghum.

Safety

The baobab pulp makes the mix acidic, about pH 4.2, from the start. The study says it can be kept in its vessel for one week without spoilage. The studied village batches were made under uncontrolled hygiene, and the study counted total aerobic bacteria, spore-formers (none detected in mutchayan), lactic bacteria and yeasts, but no pathogens.

History and sources

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

Thirty-five baobab foods have been described from the knowledge of people in Benin, and the Otamari (Ditamari) know them best. A 2010 study (Chadare and colleagues) calls itself the first to investigate mutchayan, dikouanyouri and tayohounta. Fresh baobab pulp is available from January to May, which is when mutchayan is plentiful.

  1. [chadare2010] Chadare F.J., Gayet D.P., Azokpota P., Nout M.J.R., Linnemann A.R., Hounhouigan J.D., van Boekel M.A.J.S. 2010, Three traditional fermented baobab foods from Benin, Mutchayan, Dikouanyouri and Tayohounta, preparation, properties and consumption, Ecology of Food and Nutrition 49(4):279–297, doi:10.1080/03670244.2010.491051paper
  2. [chadare2013] Chadare F.J., Hounhouigan J.D., Nout M.J.R., van Boekel M.A.J.S. 2013, Ethno-food knowledge of baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) and characterisation of its traditional fermented novel foods from Benin, Acta Horticulturae 979:187–194, doi:10.17660/ActaHortic.2013.979.17 (abstract)paper
  3. [chadare2010thesis] Chadare F.J. 2010, Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) foods from Benin, composition, processing and quality, PhD thesis, Wageningen University (chapter 5 on mutchayan, dikouanyouri and tayohounta)paper