Background: Soumbala is a highly loved alkaline traditional fermented food condiment in Burkina Faso. It harbors various microbiota dominated by fermentative Bacillus spp. as functional microorganism with little confirmed health-promoting properties. Methods: The present study aimed to evaluate six Bacillus strains previously isolated and identified from soumbala. These strains were selected as presumptively safe bacteria for probiotic and technological characteristics. These strains were assessed for in vitro probiotic criteria (tolerance to acidic pH, gastric juice, 0.3% (m/v) bile salts, intestinal juice and 0.4% (w/v) phenol, cell surface hydrophobicity, auto-aggregation capacity, antimicrobial activity against foodborne pathogens, antibiotic susceptibility and biofilm production) and technological properties, including protease, amylase, lipase, and tannase activity, as well as poly-γ-glutamic acid (PGA) production and thermo-tolerance. Results: All tested Bacillus strains (B54, F20, F24, F21, F26 and F44) presented variable relevant probiotic properties (good tolerance to pH 2 and pH 4, gastric juice, bile salts, intestinal juice and phenol), with marked differences in hydrophobicity and auto-aggregation capacity ranging from 73.62—94.71% and 49.35—92.30%, respectively. They exhibited a broad spectrum of activity against foodborne pathogens depending on target pathogen, with the highest activity exhibited by strain F20 (29.52 mm) against B. cereus 39 (p < 0.001). They also showed good biofilm production as well as variable hydrolytic enzyme activities, including protease (43.00—60.67 mm), amylase (22.59—49.55 mm), lipase (20.02—24.57 mm), and tannase (0—10.67 mm). All tested Bacillus strains tolerated temperature up to 50 °C, while only strains F26 and F44 showed the best PGA production. Conclusion: Overall, the tested cultures exhibiting potential probiotic and technological characteristics; particularly B. cereus F20, B. benzoevorans F21, B. cabrialessi F26, and B. tequilensis F44 could be a source of probiotic-starters of commercial interest in the production of high-quality soumbala.

In the past, studies on antimicrobial resistance were carried out on pathogens in the clinical areas. However, since then, this phenomenon has become a general case both in the environment and in the food sector. This systematic review aimed to review the various scientific publications on the resistance of bacteria to antibiotics in foods in West Africa. An extensive literature search was carried out through an electronic database including PubMed, Google Scholar, Research Gate, and African Journals Online (AJOL). Articles published from fifteen countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) between 2010 and 2020 on antibiotic resistance of foodborne pathogens were included in the study. The titles and abstracts of the retrieved articles and then the full texts of the selected articles were reviewed. Out of the 565 articles found in our initial research, 149 publications (26.55%) were considered suitable for inclusion in this review. Globally, 2018, 2019, and 2020 had more included papers (n = 21 to 25) than the other years. Of the 149 publications analyzed, four types of food commodities were identified as products of high consumption based on the number of publications in the field such as poultry (39/149), read-to-eat food (22/149), meat, and animal products (20/149). Most studies have shown that E. coli has the highest prevalence followed by Salmonella and Staphylococcus. Only 33 (22.14%) of the 149 publications were based on further molecular characterization of the isolates. Publications analyzed showed that the most prevalent detected genes were tet(A), tet(B), tet(C), tet(K) blaTEM, catA1, catA2, cmlA, blaCTXM and qnrA, qnrB, qnrS, parC, and qepA4. From these results, antibiotic use in the food areas must be strongly regulated, especially in developing countries, particularly in Africa. This highlights the need to implement suitable and appropriate control strategies to reduce complications and prevent the dissemination of resistant bacteria isolates in foods. One health antimicrobial resistance surveillance system in the region must be a great concern.

In recent years, research on yeasts as probiotics has gained more and more interest, which will allow the development of “new” products in the probiotics market. In this context, seventeen yeast strains isolated from Rabilé, a traditional beer produced in Burkina Faso, were assessed for their probiotic attributes. The yeast identification was performed by molecular methods, including PCR-RFLP and 5.8S-ITS region sequencing. Saccharomyces cerevisiae (14 strains) was the predominantly identified species, followed by Pichia kudriavzevii (2 strains) and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa (1 strain). Except for R. mucilaginosa, all yeast strains grew well at human temperature. The yeast strains showed high resistance when they were exposed to simulated gastrointestinal conditions. Auto-aggregation ability was between 70.20 ± 10.53% and 91.82 ± 1.96%, while co-aggregation with E. coli ranged from 24.92 ± 3.96% to 80.68 ± 9.53% and with S. enterica serovar Typhimurium from 40.89 ± 8.18% to 74.06 ± 7.94%. Furthermore, the hydrophobicity of isolated strains toward n-hexane was in the range from 43.17 ± 5.07% to 70.73 ± 2.42%. All yeast strains displayed high antioxidant capabilities, and the strains did not show hemolysis halos, such that they can be considered safe. Additionally, S. cerevisiae strains strongly inhibited the growth of foodborne pathogens. This is the first preliminary study to identify and characterize the yeast strains isolated from Rabilé with interesting probiotic properties.

Exploitation of Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFP) is after agriculture and breeding the third source of income in Burkina Faso. Soumbala, made from alkaline fermentation of Parkia biglobosa seeds, is one of the most popular indigenous foods condiments very prized by the Burkinabes. This study aimed to assess the process practices and safety measures to ensures good quality along the production chain of soumbala. A literature survey followed by investigations was performed. Sphinx Millennium V4.5 software was used for data processing and analysis. The results showed that soumbala production is essentially a women activity with Mossi and Lobi the most active ethnic groups in soumbala manufacture. The organoleptic and nutritional qualities as well as safety and stability of soumbala depend on the production conditions. The production and sale conditions, the ignorance of rules of hygiene, the lack of training in quality management system or concept of good manufacturing practice (GMP) and the non-compliance practices of processors induced sanitary risks for consumers. Results of this study confirmed the needs to set up training program for GMP, environmental sanitation and personal hygiene both for processor-sellers to improve the safety of soumbala. Key words: Technology of production, food safety, food quality, Soumbala, good manufacturing practice (GMP).

The indigenous food condiments, produced by alkaline fermentation of various African plant products, are widely used as food seasonings by most African people. Many strains of Bacillus genus are recognized

Tiger nut milk (TNM), called “horchata,” is a widely appreciated drink in Burkina Faso. However, its consumption may affect human health. Due to the absence of adequate heat treatment during production, failure to observe Good Hygiene Practices and Good Manufacturing Practices (GHP/GMP), and improper storage, it should be a source of development of foodborne pathogens. This study aims to evaluate the biochemical and microbiological quality of TNM consumed in Burkina Faso. A total of 120 TNM samples were collected from four regions in Burkina Faso. The tiger nut ( Cyperus esculentus L .) was grown in agro‐ecological conditions. The samples were analyzed following standard procedures. The results showed that, for the biochemical parameters, the values ranged from 12.4 ± 1.34 to 17.6 ± 2.97°Bx, 5.84 ± 0.36 to 6.40 ± 0.11 for pH, 0.448 ± 0.49 to 0.849 ± 0.41% for lactic acid titratable acidity, 15.79 ± 0.16 to 16.92 ± 0.16% for total proteins, and 17.52 ± 0.09 to 18.64 ± 0.01% for total sugar contents. The microbiological quality assessment revealed the absence of E. coli, spore‐forming sulfite‐reducing anaerobes, and Salmonella sp. The mean total mesophilic aerobic flora (TMAF) load was 2.81 × 10 ⁵ ± 0.96 CFU/mL. The yeasts and molds (YM) had an average load of 7.25 × 10 ² ± 1.93 CFU/mL. The mean total coliform load was 2.24 × 10 ² ± 0.91 CFU/mL ( p value < 0.05), and the mean thermotolerant coliform load was less than 1 CFU/mL. TNM samples contained reasonable levels of nutrients potentially beneficial to consumer health, but were contaminated with varying levels of pathogenic microorganisms, including S. aureus and B. cereus . Therefore, to ensure product safety, pasteurization of TNM along with strict hygiene and manufacturing practices is recommended.