Sapal: a traditional fermented taro [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott] corm and coconut cream mixture from Papua New Guinea

Sapal is a traditional fermented food made by mixing cooked, grated taro [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott] corm with coconut cream and allowing it to ferment at ambient temperature. The fermentation was primarily due to heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria, which reached 1010 cfuml. Seven out of 10 isolated bacterial strains were identified as Leuconostoc mesenteroides or Leuc. paramesenteroides. The initial microbial flora was derived from the coconut cream. Yeasts grew on the surface of the sapal in the later stages of the fermentation. Overnight storage of the grated taro corm resulted in the glucose concentration increasing from 1.1 to about 5 gl. During the fermentation the glucose concentration decreased to undetectable levels. The pH value fell from an initial value of 6.1 to 4.1 after 24 h.