Technological and microbiological characteristics of indigenous food produced in Gabon

The purpose of this study was to provide contextual information on indigenous food's technologies and safety from Gabon. The strategic focus being to promote local food with enhanced nutritional value and improved safety. An investigation and monitoring were carried out to elucidate their process flow diagrams and to identify safety failures. Samples were taken for microbiological analysis using conventional culture-based techniques. Detection and identification of Salmonella in samples were confirmed using PCR based method by targeting invasion plasmid antigen B (IpaB) gene. The investigation shows that women play a protagonist role in the technical know-how of Gabonese indigenous foods in a context that is evolving towards the disappearance of this knowledge. The food production process remains archaic, which makes the environment impact on food safety. Indeed, the proximity of food manufacturing environment to animals, waste, or latrines coupled with the lack of hygiene and manufacturing practices affect the quality of these foods. This is reflected in our study's microbiological results, namely, Aerobic Mesophilic Bacteria ranged from 3.53 to 11.96 log CFU/g and indicators of fecal contaminations of up to 8.21 log CFU/g. Salmonella is detected in 18.69% of samples. The presence of these bacteria is a risk for consumer health. Although some of these foods can be considered as a fermented food, the producers should be further educated and encouraged to take preventive measures to ensure the quality of these food products. A much more subtle approach based on microbial ecology of these foods should be explored for better exploitation.