F. S. Johnson, A. K. Obeng and F. Ayimbila
“Deger”, a fermented milk product is gaining popularity among consumers in Tamale Metropolis and other cities in Ghana. Among the many advantages of fermented foods, the probiotic activity of the fermenting microorganisms cannot be overemphasized. This work assessed the probiotic potential of deger using lactic acid bacteria (LAB), major probiotic organisms as the indicator. The viable LAB counts of samples purchased from nine different sources in Tamale were enumerated by serial dilution and pour-plating in selective media, MRS-S. There was significant difference (p<0.05) in mean LAB count of the deger samples from different sources with sources B, E and F recording the highest mean LAB counts of 2.86±0.03×108, 2.53±0.11×108 and 2.95±0.04×108 cfu/ml respectively whilst source G recorded the least significant counts of 1.15±0.05×108 cfu/ml . Because there is spontaneous fermentation in deger production, twenty isolates were randomly selected from the samples and identified by standard morphological, physiological and biochemical methods. The isolates were identified as Lactobacillus delbrueckii (30%), Lactobacillus casei (25%), Lactobacillus leichmannii (25%) Lactobacillus acidophilus (15%) and Lactobacillus fermentum (5%). It is concluded that deger consume in Tamale is a promising probiotic food. This is in view of fact that the minimum serving size of 150 ml from the source with the least mean LAB counts of 1.15±0.05×108 cfu/ml contained 1.731.15×1010 viable cells, and that some strains of LAB isolated from deger namely L. delbrueckii, L. acidophilus L casei and L. fermentum have documented probiotic activities.
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