Programme de bourses "Echanges Universitaires"
Analysis of microbial diversity and improvement of safety of Fèné, a spontaneously acidified sourmilk of Mali
Problem
Within the framework of a collaboration between the Institute of Sahel (INSAH), the Laboratoire Central Vétérinaire (LCV) in Mali, the Swiss Tropical Institute (STI) in Basel and ETH Zürich, the microbiological diversity of spontaneously acidified sourmilk, named Fèné, is under investigation (running PhD thesis at ETH and a planned bac+2 thesis at the LCV). Fèné, a fermented milk produced from Zebu cows, represents in Mali an important food product for the rural population. Due to the spontaneous fermentation by resident bacteria and lack to hygienic precautions during this process its microbiological quality is not well controlled and should be improved to avoid human infection diseases. This goal will be achieved by analysing and understanding the fermentation process including the participating microorganisms and finally by investigating the conditions and technological improvements for higher food safety guaranteeing improvements in human health and income.
Objectives and methodologies:
The microbial composition of Fèné and the diversity of bacteria either involved in the milk fermentation process or as spoilage or pathogenic microorganisms are currently studied. By analysing Fèné from hot-dry (March 2005) and moderate-warm (November 2005) we observed remarkable differences in the diversity of lactic acid bacteria in the Fèné-microflora. Therefore, one objective of the project is the analysis of Fèné from the rainy season (June and July 2006) to prove the seasonal dependence of present bacteria. The sampling will be done by a student (to be funded by KFPE) of LCV in Bamako, Mali in the small scale dairy-unit in Kasséla. Then, the first microbiological analyses will be done by classical methods at the LCV. Afterwards, more elaborated analyses of Fèné samples by means of modern microbiological and molecular biology methods will be performed by the Malian student at ETH Zurich in close collaboration with a ETH PhD student working on this project. In detail, the Malian student will be trained with PCR and PFGE technologies and physiological assay schemes in order to setup part of these techniques in her home-laboratory and finally to use newly detected lactic acid bacteria to control and improve the Fèné production process technology in Mali.
Contacts:
Prof. Dr. Leo Meile
Laboratory of Food Biotechnology
Schmelzbergstr. 7
8092 Zurich
leo.meile@ilw.agrl.ethz.ch
Dr. Bassirou Bonfoh
Lait Sain pour le Sahel
s/c INSAH BP 1530
Bamako, Mali
E-mail: bassirou@agrosoc.insah.org
Duration of the project: August 1 to November 30, 2006 (4 months)
