ABSTRACT
Dawadawa is the Hausa name for fermented African locust bean. It is the most important food condiment in the entire savanna region of West and Central Africa. Dawadawa is also known as iru in Yorubaland of Nigeria, ogiri-igala in Iboland, kpalugu among the Kusasis and Dagombas of northern Ghana, kinda in Sierra Leone, and netetou or soumbara in Gambia. Dawadawa has undoubtedly been produced in West Africa for centuries, but as with many other traditional arts, there are no written records of its origin. The processing of locust beans into dawadawa is carried out exclusively by women as a specialized trade and commercial activity, hence dawadawa is almost always a purchased food. Dawadawa fermentation is a solid-state fermentation. This is quite unlike most other food fermentations in Africa which are usually in liquid menstrum. Several physico-chemical changes occur during fermentation of locust beans. The temperature and moisture content of the fermenting beans increase during fermentation.
