ABSTRACT
In southern Africa, mageu is a traditional sour maize beverage. It contains little or no alcohol, has a pH of about 3.5, and is popular among the black people of this subcontinent, where it may play an important role in the diet. Mageu is prepared by boiling a maize porride of about 8-10% solids into which, upon cooling, a small amount of wheat flour is mixed. In the traditional process, the wheat flour serves as inoculum of lactic acid bacteria, and a final acidity of about 0.4-0.5% (lactic acid) develops within 1-2 days at room temperature (1,2).
