Fermentation of African Nightshade Leaves with Lactic Acid Bacterial Starter Cultures

African nightshade (Solanum scabrum) is an African indigenous leafy vegetable, which is rich in proteins and micronutrients and could therefore contribute to a healthy diet. In this study, we investigated the fermentation of African nightshade as a post-harvest processing method. The two lactic acid bacterial starter strains Lactobacillus plantarum BFE 5092 and L. fermentum BFE 6620 were used to inoculate fermentations of African nightshade leaves with initial counts of 10^6-10^7 cfu/ml. Uninoculated controls were conducted for each fermentation trial. Fermentations were performed both in Kenya and in Germany. Strains belonging to the genus Lactobacillus dominated the microbiota of the starter inoculated samples in contrast to the non-inoculated controls. We could demonstrate that the use of the selected starter cultures for fermentation of African nightshade leaves led to controlled and reliable fermentations with quick acidification.