Food Processing Technology Upgrade for Traditional Fermented Food Production in South East Nigeria

This study examines engineering and technology upgrade options for traditional fermented food production in South East Nigeria, with a focus on improving product consistency, safety, and production efficiency in ogiri, ogi, and ugba processing. Fermented foods are culturally important and commercially significant in South East Nigeria, yet their production relies predominantly on traditional craft methods with limited process control, creating quality variability and food safety concerns. This study maps the production process engineering for three fermented food products, identifying critical control points for temperature, moisture, fermentation time, and microbial quality. Engineering interventions are proposed and evaluated for each critical control point using prototype testing at processing centres in Enugu, Anambra, and Imo States. Interventions include controlled fermentation chambers, standardised grinding equipment, pasteurisation units, and hygienic packaging machines. Process improvement outcomes are assessed through product quality testing including proximate analysis, microbial load, and consumer sensory evaluation. Economic feasibility of technology upgrades is assessed using enterprise budgeting. Findings reveal that temperature-controlled fermentation chambers reduce product quality variation coefficients by 52 percent and total bacterial counts by 72 percent in ogiri production. Consumer sensory scores for processed products are significantly higher than for traditionally processed controls. Enterprise profitability improves by 34 percent per unit output with technology upgrades. The study recommends a government-supported processing technology upgrade programme for traditional fermented food producers.

Keywords: fermented foods, food processing technology, South East Nigeria, food safety, process engineering.