Dry Milling and Accelerated Fermentation of Maize for Industrial Production of Kenkey, a Ghanaian Cereal Food

The dry milling of maize and accelerated fermentation of dough for kenkey production were studied as part of a wider investigation into the possibility of industrial production of a dehydrated kenkey flour. Dough containing an enrichment of lactic acid bacteria was used successfully to achieve, within 24-h incubation at 30°C, the required level of acidification of dry-milled maeze flour to obtain kenkey dough. Cabinet and drum drying were used to prepare dehydrated kenkey flour and pre-gelatinised aflata, respectively. Drum-drying was an effective method for the preparation of pre-gelatinised aflata, but it resulted in a 34% reduction in the titratable acidity (TA) of the fermented dough. Cabinet drying, on the other hand, had a less drastic effect on the TA of fermented dough, suggesting the possible use of a mixture of drum-dried aflata and uncooked cabinet-dried flour for convenient preparation of kenkey at the household level. Dry-milled maize flours had pasting and set-back viscosities that were inferior to those of the traditionally prepared doughs, and consequently they were unsuitable for the production of pre-gelatinised aflatas. Pre-getalinised aflata from unfermented dry-milled flours resulted in a crumbly and friable kenkey product. It was concluded, therefore, that, although dry-milling of maize and accelerated fermentation of dough could drastically reduce kenkey production time, from about 6 days to within 24 h, omission of the soaking step practised traditionally results in a product with inferior textural quality.