Impact of Selected Starters and Cassava Varieties on the Proximate, Rheological, and Volatile Profiles of Lafun

Spontaneous fermentation is currently used to produce lafun from cassava, leading to inconsistent product quality and decreased safety. Using starter cultures and optimising the selection of the raw materials can overcome this. This study evaluated the impact of various lactic acid bacteria (LAB) starters and varieties of cassava (bitter: IBA30527; vitamin A fortified bitter: IBA011371; and sweet: TMEB117) on the proximate, rheological, and volatile profiles of lafun. The varieties were fermented with four selected LAB (two strains of <i>Weissella koreensis</i>, <i>Lactococcus lactis</i>, and <i>Leuconostoc mesenteroides</i>). The use of fortified cassava showed higher potential to improve the quality of lafun. The combination of fortified cassava and <i>Leuconostoc mesenteroides</i> gave the highest nutritional value (ash: 4.37% cf. 1.33%; protein: 3.08% cf. 0.87%; and fibre: 7.43% cf. 1.43%). Fermenting the fortified cassava with <i>Weissella koreensis</i>-2 produced lafun gruel with the best viscoelastic properties, indicating an overall better product quality. The fortified cassava fermented with combined cultures of <i>W. koreensis</i>-1 and <i>L. lactis</i> resulted in a product with lower levels of carboxylic acids (cheesy) and lipid oxidation products (fried, rancid) but higher concentrations of carotenoid-derived compounds (fruity). The use of LAB in the controlled fermentation of fortified cassava could be a sustainable alternative to improve the physical, nutritional, and flavour properties of lafun.