ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF TWO FERMENTATION MEHODS ON THE PHYSICO-CHEMICAL, MICROBIOLOGICAL AND SENSORY PROPERTIES OF "PLACALI" DERIVED FROM THREE IMPROVED CASSAVA VARIETIES

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is one of the world's main starchy root and tuber crops. In Côte d'Ivoire, cassava is a very important crop because Cassava therefore plays an important role in addressing the food insecurity problems in drought affected region. Despite its potential, cassava faces storage problems due to its perishability and hydrocyanic acid content. To solve these problems, new resistant varieties rich in beta carotene have been developed as well as processing methods leading to the production of several dishes such as placali. The general objective of this study is to evalute the impact of two types of ferments on the quality of placali obtained from improved cassava varieties. The results showed that placali samples prepared with dried ferment (FS) showed the best characteristics. Indeed, fresh FS placali pastes were less acidic, with a low hydrocyanic acid content. In addition, the dry matter content of FS pasta was higher, which would extend its shelf life. Also, the dried ferment showed a high fermentative power, as 0.5 Kg of dried ferment fermented 10 Kg of cassava chips, compared with 1 Kg of boiled ferment for 10 Kg of cassava. Sensory analysis showed that the FS placali was the most appreciated, as it was less acidic with a slight ferment aroma. It would therefore be interesting to encourage female placali producers to use this ferment to standardize and improve placali quality in Côte d'Ivoire.