Detoxification of Nyar-Udota cassava variety in Zombo district by fermentation

Abstract

Fermentation is capable of detoxifying cassava cultivars. Cassava is one of the most important food crops in the world and in Uganda it is the second most consumed food crop after bananas. However, cassava has some toxic compounds, the cyanogenic glycosides such as linamarin and lotaustralin. Ingestion of the toxins in abundant quantities can be harmful to the health of both humans and animals. Cassava may hence, present a potential health risk to the consumers. Information regarding better detoxifying methods and processing conditions of cyanogenic glycosides content in cassava is vital for avoidance of health risks associated with cassava consumption. Accordingly, one local cultivar, Nyar-udota, was subjected to fermentation for detoxification of their cyanogenic content. Fermentation achieved significant detoxification of the cyanogenic glycosides in the cassava cultivar up to 64.7% and the decrease varied with period of fermentation.