Department of Biology, Federal University of Technology Akure Nigeria.
This study was undertaken to investigate effect of salt treatment on fungi spoilage, proximate and mineral compositions of fermented locust beans during storage. In a completely randomized experimental set up, 20g of fresh African locust beans were separately weighed and distributed into clean transparent small plastic containers. Two grams (2g) of common salt were then added and the containers covered before storage at 28+20C and at75+5%RH. Unsalted samples served as control. By day 5 of storage, Rhizopus sp, Aspergillus niger and A. flavus were the fungi isolates found associated with the deterioration of the unsalted locust bean as evident by discolouration and mycelia appearance. Interestingly, salted samples did not show any sign of deterioration even by day 28 of storage.Results also showed significant decrease (except in moisture contents) in the proximate and mineral compositions of the unsalted samples when compared with the salted.
Key words: Salting; fungal spoilage; proximate; minerals; locust bean; storage