Composition and origin of the fermentation microbiota of mahewu, a Zimbabwean fermented cereal beverage.

In conclusion, mahewu microbiota is mainly derived from millet malt microbiota but minor components of malt microbiota rapidly outcompete Enterobacteriaceae and Bacillus species during fermentation.IMPORTANCE. This study provides insight into the composition and origin of the microbiota of mahewu and the composition of millet malt microbiota. Fermentation microbiota are often hypothesized to be derived from the environment but the evidence remains inconclusive. Our findings confirm that millet malt is the major source of mahewu microbiota. By complementing cultural methods with high throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA amplicons and strain specific qPCR, this study provides evidence about the source of mahewu microbiota which can inform the development of starter cultures for mahewu production. The study also documents the fate of Enterobacteriaceae during the fermentation of mahewu. There are concerns regarding the safety of traditionally prepared mahewu, and this requires in-depth knowledge of the fermentation process. Therefore, this study elucidated millet malt microbiota, and identified cultures that are able to control the high numbers of Enterobacteriaceae that are initially present in mahewu fermentations. PMID: 30902861 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Appl Environ Microbiol Source Type: research