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Fermented milk from Northern Cameroon

Pendidam and kindirmou (Cameroon)pendidam

Kindirmou is a thick milk, ordinary milk heated and coagulated, made with a portion of the last batch as ferment; pendidam is the sour, skimmed fermented milk that the Far North survey describes as left after curdled milk is churned and the butter (lebol) is lifted off. In the Far North the milk is warmed, seeded with 2–3 spoonfuls of an earlier batch and left 24–72 hours before churning.

Fully documentedFermented milk25 h – 3 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceHousehold practice; the survey gives the starter in spoonfuls but no milk volume.
Raw cow milkFiltered, then heated to 60–70 °C in the Far North[bayoi2026]
Kittoum (an earlier successful batch)2–3 spoonfulsThe natural starter[bayoi2026]
Starterbackslop (kittoum) or spontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 25 h – 3 days

Start
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60–70 °C

What changes: The filtered milk is warmed to 60–70 °C and left to cool

Step 1 of 4
Filter and warm the milk
Time
20–30 min
Reported
Temperature
60–70 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: warmed milk, then cooled to ambient.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

heat lowers the raw-milk flora

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

Kindirmou is a thick milk, ordinary milk heated and coagulated, made with a portion of the last batch as ferment; pendidam is the sour, skimmed fermented milk that the Far North survey describes as left after curdled milk is churned and the butter (lebol) is lifted off. In the Far North the milk is warmed, seeded with 2–3 spoonfuls of an earlier batch and left 24–72 hours before churning. Made in 4 steps over 25 h – 3 days. The longest step, add kittoum and leave to curdle, takes 24 h – 3 days (Bayoï J.R 2026) and runs at 28–35 °C (Bayoï J.R 2026). Lactobacillus delbrueckii, Lactobacillus cellobiosus and Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus strains isolated from pendidam does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step24 h – 3 daysReported[bayoi2026]Add kittoum and leave to curdle
Temperature28–35 °CReported[bayoi2026]Add kittoum and leave to curdle
AciditypH 3.4–3.7Measured[bayoi2026]Bottle and sell the pendidam

What makes this one different

The Far North survey (Bayoï 2026) describes pendidam as the skimmed liquid left when the curdled milk is churned and the butter lifted off, like a sour buttermilk. Edima (2014) defines penndiidam instead as fermented milk made from skimmed, heated milk, and kindirmou as thick, heated, coagulated ordinary milk; the sources do not agree on how the two are made. The Far North makers warm the milk to about 60–70 °C before back-slopping.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Kindirmou (Adamawa)Cow milk fermented in a calabash, plastic or metal container for 12–24 h depending on room temperature (Frontiers 2026 table citing Maïworé 2020). At a Ngaoundéré site the milk was boiled for about 1 h at 65–70 °C and seeded with a portion of the last batch (Edima 2014).
  • LebolThe butter separated by skimming after churning (Bayoï 2026); Edima (2014) calls lebol the local butter.

Safety

The pH is below 4, but market pendidam carried fungi, spore-forming bacteria and staphylococci above standard thresholds, and sulfite-reducing clostridia and coliforms were also detected (coliforms mostly under 3 log). The authors blame non-potable water, unhygienic utensils, bottles that are hard to clean, inadequate storage and unsanitary vending.

Hazards the sources name: Staphylococci (2.79–2.99 log CFU/mL), sulfite-reducing clostridia and coliforms.

History and sources

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

FAO (1990) lists pindidaam (Cameroon) among African sour milks made by spontaneous souring. Pendidam production is a female-dominated activity (2026 survey).

  1. [bayoi2026] Bayoï J.R., Noubasra S. 2026, Processing and characterization of pendidam, a skimmed fermented milk locally made in the Far North of Cameroon, International Journal of Food Science 2026:7743110paper
  2. [afr26] Nodem Sohanang F.S. et al. 2026, Unlocking the microbial potential of traditional African fermented milk products, a systematic review, Frontiers in Food Science and Technology 6 (tables 2 and 4, citing Maïworé et al. 2020 and Mouafo et al. 2018)paper
  3. [nodem2024] Nodem Sohanang F.S. et al. 2024, Isolation and probiotic characterization of lactic acid bacteria from kindirmou and pendidam, Advances in Biochemistry 12(2):35–48 (title)paper
  4. [edima2014] Edima H.C., Awono E.T., Biloa D.M., Tchoumkeu H.B., Etoa F-X. 2014, Evaluation of the good hygienic practices on the production of kindirmou and lebol, International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences 3(9):247–253paper
  5. [fao-tmp] FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85, section II "Acidified milks", group 1.1 (pindidaam, Cameroon)gov