Harnessing solar drying for starter cultures: A novel approach to backslopping fermentation
Solar drying is a cost-effective and sustainable method for the preservation of food and food ingredient, particularly in West Africa. In this study, a locally constructed solar dryer was used to assess and model the drying kinetics of a previously developed backslop culture, while also evaluating i...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Applied Food Research |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772502225003324 |
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| author | Marcel Houngbédji Donan Bangbadé D. Sylvain Dabadé Schadrac D. Agossevi B. Pélagie Agbobatinkpo S. Wilfrid Padonou Joseph Dossou Paulin Azokpota D. Joseph Hounhouigan |
| author_facet | Marcel Houngbédji Donan Bangbadé D. Sylvain Dabadé Schadrac D. Agossevi B. Pélagie Agbobatinkpo S. Wilfrid Padonou Joseph Dossou Paulin Azokpota D. Joseph Hounhouigan |
| author_sort | Marcel Houngbédji |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Solar drying is a cost-effective and sustainable method for the preservation of food and food ingredient, particularly in West Africa. In this study, a locally constructed solar dryer was used to assess and model the drying kinetics of a previously developed backslop culture, while also evaluating its effectiveness in cereal fermentation. The solar drying system significantly induced a temperature gradient between outside and inside the drying chamber, enhancing inside temperature to 45.6 – 59.8 °C during the 5 h drying process, while the outside temperature ranged from 30 – 33 °C. Significant reduction of the moisture content of the backslop culture was observed, dropping from 52.3 ± 0.5 at the onset (0 h) to 9.2 ± 0.7 % at the end of the drying process. The final water activity of the dried culture was 0.17 ± 0.03, ensuring satisfactory survival of lactic acid bacteria (97.42 ± 0.15 % of viability) and yeast (81.05 ± 7.06 % of viability). The drying kinetic patterns showed consistent fit with Midili-Kucuk model with high reliable predictivity (R2 = 0.998) and least bias (Root Mean Square Error = 0.016), demonstrating the suitability of solar drying for small-scale production of starter culture. Similar to oven-dried and freeze-dried cultures for food fermentation, the solar-dried backslop starter culture resulted in desirable acidity and pH levels in subsequent fermented products. This study demonstrates the potential of solar drying as a sustainable, cost-effective alternative to energy-intensive methods like freeze- and oven-drying, while ensuring food safety through controlled fermentation. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e8a588217d6945c7bbf78daa90a60445 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2772-5022 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Food Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-e8a588217d6945c7bbf78daa90a604452025-08-20T02:06:44ZengElsevierApplied Food Research2772-50222025-06-015110102410.1016/j.afres.2025.101024Harnessing solar drying for starter cultures: A novel approach to backslopping fermentationMarcel Houngbédji0Donan Bangbadé1D. Sylvain Dabadé2Schadrac D. Agossevi3B. Pélagie Agbobatinkpo4S. Wilfrid Padonou5Joseph Dossou6Paulin Azokpota7D. Joseph Hounhouigan8Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin; School of Science and Techniques of the Preservation and Processing of Agricultural Products, National University of Agriculture, Sakété, Bénin; Corresponding author.Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, BeninLaboratory of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, BeninLaboratory of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin; Farmer Eco-conception, Dogbo, BeninLaboratory of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, BeninLaboratory of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin; School of Science and Techniques of the Preservation and Processing of Agricultural Products, National University of Agriculture, Sakété, BéninLaboratory of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, BeninLaboratory of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, BeninLaboratory of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, BeninSolar drying is a cost-effective and sustainable method for the preservation of food and food ingredient, particularly in West Africa. In this study, a locally constructed solar dryer was used to assess and model the drying kinetics of a previously developed backslop culture, while also evaluating its effectiveness in cereal fermentation. The solar drying system significantly induced a temperature gradient between outside and inside the drying chamber, enhancing inside temperature to 45.6 – 59.8 °C during the 5 h drying process, while the outside temperature ranged from 30 – 33 °C. Significant reduction of the moisture content of the backslop culture was observed, dropping from 52.3 ± 0.5 at the onset (0 h) to 9.2 ± 0.7 % at the end of the drying process. The final water activity of the dried culture was 0.17 ± 0.03, ensuring satisfactory survival of lactic acid bacteria (97.42 ± 0.15 % of viability) and yeast (81.05 ± 7.06 % of viability). The drying kinetic patterns showed consistent fit with Midili-Kucuk model with high reliable predictivity (R2 = 0.998) and least bias (Root Mean Square Error = 0.016), demonstrating the suitability of solar drying for small-scale production of starter culture. Similar to oven-dried and freeze-dried cultures for food fermentation, the solar-dried backslop starter culture resulted in desirable acidity and pH levels in subsequent fermented products. This study demonstrates the potential of solar drying as a sustainable, cost-effective alternative to energy-intensive methods like freeze- and oven-drying, while ensuring food safety through controlled fermentation.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772502225003324Backslop cultureSolar dryerDrying kinetic modelMicrobial viabilityEnergy-intensive drying |
| spellingShingle | Marcel Houngbédji Donan Bangbadé D. Sylvain Dabadé Schadrac D. Agossevi B. Pélagie Agbobatinkpo S. Wilfrid Padonou Joseph Dossou Paulin Azokpota D. Joseph Hounhouigan Harnessing solar drying for starter cultures: A novel approach to backslopping fermentation Applied Food Research Backslop culture Solar dryer Drying kinetic model Microbial viability Energy-intensive drying |
| title | Harnessing solar drying for starter cultures: A novel approach to backslopping fermentation |
| title_full | Harnessing solar drying for starter cultures: A novel approach to backslopping fermentation |
| title_fullStr | Harnessing solar drying for starter cultures: A novel approach to backslopping fermentation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Harnessing solar drying for starter cultures: A novel approach to backslopping fermentation |
| title_short | Harnessing solar drying for starter cultures: A novel approach to backslopping fermentation |
| title_sort | harnessing solar drying for starter cultures a novel approach to backslopping fermentation |
| topic | Backslop culture Solar dryer Drying kinetic model Microbial viability Energy-intensive drying |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772502225003324 |
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