Abstract
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Abstract; Objective; ; Industrial production of traditional fermented beverages in developing countries is limited by lack of commercial starter cultures. Saccharomyces (S.) cerevisiae MNC 21Y and Lactobacillus (L.) plantarum MNC 21 were identified as starter cultures for a Ugandan cereal beverage, Obushera. However, they are commercially unavailable due to lack of affordable appropriate propagating and preservation methods. In this study the starters were propagated in sorghum malt slurries (30 °C for 24 h) and stored at 5 °C and − 18 °C for 90 days. Viability and fermentation ability of the cultures was monitored.; Results; ; Viability was higher for starters stored at 5 °C (S. cerevisiae: 6 log cfu/g and L. plantarum: 7–9 log cfu/g during 90 days) than those at -18 °C (S. cerevisiae: 2 cfu/g and L. plantarum: 4 log cfu/g after 30 days). Refrigerated starters acidified Obushera (pH ≤ 4.5) faster (10–20 h) than frozen ones (18–24 h). Refrigerating the starters in sorghum malt slurries preserves them for at least three months. This provides an affordable option for starter commercialization and industrial production of traditional fermented foods.