“Lakh vzla” A Popular Fermented Beef Bone Base Flavour Enhancer from Mafa People in Northern Cameroon

“Lakh vzla” is one of the most interesting food flavour enhancer used for notabilities amongst Mafa people from Northern Cameroon. With the aims at valorizing this African food enhancer, we studied artisanal processing production and investigated the principal microbiological activities and biochemical modifications which occur during its processing. It was found that the main substrate for this fermentation was bones powder and the source of microorganisms the fat used as melting ingredient. The fermentation time was found to be five to seven days. The process that degrades bone during “Lakh vzla” production was found to be similar to that of diagenesis. The first step in the process involves elimination of the organic collagen fraction by the action of bacterial collagenases. This collagenase may mainly be produced by isolated Bacillus sp. strains. The collagenases break down protein into peptides which are subsequently reduced to their constituent amino acids involved in flavouring and particular odour of “Lakh vzla”. Improvement of the process are proposed to ameliorate both the process production and quality of the end product.