Abstract

The extracellular enzymatic activity of ten (10) strains of predominant bacteria involved in Maari process has been investigated using the APIZYM (BioMérieux, France) commercial system, with the objective of determining the differences in the enzymatic profiles of the various species. Variable enzymatic activity was recorded showing the specific activity of each species during the fermentation of baobab seeds. Almost all isolates possessed phosphatase activity. All aerobic mesophilic bacteria (AMB) lacked trypsin. No lactic acid bacterium (LAB) was able to produce α-galactosidase. Naphthol-AS-BI-phosphohydrolase was produced by all isolates. The enzymatic pattern of these potential starter cultures can be used for predicting their suitability for baobab seeds fermentation and for monitoring their stability.

Key words: Enzymatic activity, baobab seeds, fermentation, starter cultures.