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Soy and legumes from Nigeria

Ogiriogiri-egusi (melon seed)

Ogiri is the name for pungent, oily pastes made by fermenting boiled oilseeds in leaves. Melon or fluted pumpkin seeds are boiled, shelled, boiled again, wrapped in banana leaves and left to ferment at room temperature, while Bacillus bacteria make the mass soft and alkaline. Castor seed is also used, but it is toxic and has its own entry; this method is not for it.

Fully documentedSoy and legumes5.1 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sources we found give no fixed amounts. The seed decides the variant; see ogiri egusi and ogiri-igbo for the melon and castor versions.
Melon or fluted pumpkin seedsChosen by season and region. Castor seed is left out on purpose, because this short boil is not for it[olanbiwoninu2026]
Water for two boils[olanbiwoninu2026]
Banana leavesTo wrap the cooked seeds[olanbiwoninu2026]
Starterspontaneous. Achi (2005) describes these Nigerian condiments as fermented by spontaneous natural inoculation.

Total time across the recorded steps: 5.1 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: oilseeds boiled until they soften and change colour

Step 1 of 5
Boil the seeds until soft and changed in colour
Time
2 h
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Bacillus
Bacillus subtilis

Output: softened seeds.

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

Ogiri is the name for pungent, oily pastes made by fermenting boiled oilseeds in leaves. Melon or fluted pumpkin seeds are boiled, shelled, boiled again, wrapped in banana leaves and left to ferment at room temperature, while Bacillus bacteria make the mass soft and alkaline. Castor seed is also used, but it is toxic and has its own entry; this method is not for it. Made in 5 steps over 5.1 days. The longest step, ferment at room temperature, takes 5 days (Oladeji O.A 2025) and runs at 36–40 °C (Oladeji O.A 2025). Bacillus subtilis isolated from melon-seed ogiri does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step5 daysReported[oladeji2025]Ferment at room temperature
Temperature36–40 °CReported[oladeji2025]Ferment at room temperature
AciditypH 7.5–7.8Measured[oladeji2025]Ferment at room temperature

What makes this one different

Ogiri is made from oily seeds such as castor, melon and fluted pumpkin, not from locust beans like iru. Melon and pumpkin seeds get about three hours of boiling in all, while locust beans are boiled for about 12 hours and castor seed for 6-8 hours in the accounts of ogiri-igbo.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Ogiri egusiMelon seeds; its own entry.
  • Ogiri-igboCastor seeds; its own entry.
  • Fluted pumpkin ogiriFluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis) seeds.
  • Ogiri saroSesame ogiri of Sierra Leone (Krio name); named in Wikipedia only.

Safety

In one study, the single market sample of melon-seed ogiri carried S. aureus and E. coli, and S. aureus also grew in lab batches fermented in foil or an airtight container. Ogiri is prone to moulds; aflatoxin B1 was found in 15 of 31 melon-seed ogiri samples from sellers in south-west Nigeria [adekoya2017]. Castor seeds contain ricin, a highly toxic lectin that can kill [sousa2017]. One review gives the same three-hour boil for castor, melon and pumpkin seeds [olanbiwoninu2026], but accounts of castor ogiri boil it 6-8 hours [achi2005]. Do not use this method for castor seed, and do not make castor ogiri at home; see ogiri-igbo.

Hazards the sources name: Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Enterobacter in the one market sample of melon-seed ogiri tested; S. aureus also in lab batches fermented in foil or an airtight container; Aflatoxin B1 in 48 % of 31 melon-seed ogiri samples bought from sellers in south-west Nigeria; Ricin in castor seed (castor-seed ogiri only; a plant toxin, not a microbe).

History and sources

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

Ogiri and ugba are important protein and flavour sources in Igbo cooking and ceremonies. Wikipedia cites Crowther's 1843 Yoruba vocabulary as describing ogiri as a condiment fermented from oil seeds, separate from locust-bean iru.

  1. [olanbiwoninu2026] Olanbiwoninu A.A. et al. 2026, Ethnogeographic distribution of Nigerian fermented foods and the prospects for bioeconomy improvements, Foods 15(17):3087, doi:10.3390/foods15173087paper
  2. [oladeji2025] Oladeji O.A., Ogidi C.O. 2025, Enhancing the nutritional and microbiological properties of fermented melon condiment (ogiri) using Newbouldia laevis and Icacina trichantha leaves, Preventive Nutrition and Food Science 30(3):285, doi:10.3746/pnf.2025.30.3.285paper
  3. [adekoya2017] Adekoya I. et al. 2017, Awareness and prevalence of mycotoxin contamination in selected Nigerian fermented foods, Toxins 9(11):363, doi:10.3390/toxins9110363paper
  4. [sousa2017] Sousa N.L., Cabral G.B., Vieira P.M., Baldoni A.B., Aragão F.J.L. 2017, Bio-detoxification of ricin in castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) seeds, Scientific Reports 7:15385, doi:10.1038/s41598-017-15636-7paper
  5. [achi2005] Achi O.K. 2005, Traditional fermented protein condiments in Nigeria, African Journal of Biotechnology 4(13):1612-1621 (review; Table 3, castor seed boiled 6-8 h)paper
  6. [wp-ogiri] Wikipedia, Ogiri (names and history only)wiki