Table 1 Fermented legumes in Africa and microorganisms identified

African oil bean

(Pentaclethra macrophylla Bentham)

Spontaneous

Room

72 h

-

Lactobacillus spp., Bacillus spp., Pseudomonas spp and Staphylococcus spp.

(Eluchie et al., 2021)

Controlled

35

72 h

Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus megaterium

Spontaneous

-

5 days

-

Staphylococcus spp., Escherichia coli, Bacillus spp., Micrococcus spp., Pseudomonas spp., Proteus spp., Saccharomyces spp., and Candida spp

(Itaman & Nwachukwu,  2021)

Alkaline-Spontaneous

TF

TF

TF

Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus coagulans, Bacillus pumilus and Bacillus megaterium

(Isu & Ofuya,  2000)

Alkaline-Controlled

30

6 days

5.9–6.9

Bacillus subtilis

Alkaline-Controlled

37

72 h

6.58–6.78

Bacillus subtilis

(Enujiugha et al., 2008)

6.60–6.68

Bacillus licheniformis

6.60–6.62

Pseudomonas fluorescens

6.62–7.38

Mixed culture (Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis, Pseudomonas fluorescens)

African locust bean

(Parkia biglobosa)

Alkaline-Spontaneous

TF

TF

TF

Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Bacillus licheniformis, and Micrococcusspecies

(Oguntimehin et al., 2023)

TF

TF

TF

Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus cereus

(Olajuyigbe & Ajele, 2008)

26–34

5 days

6.2–7.0

Bacillus subtilis, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, Corynebacterium diphtheria, Actinomyces spp., Bacillus pumilis, Lactobacillus lactis, Bacillus cereus, Rhyzopus stolonifer, Rhyzopus oryzae, Rhyzopus oligosporus and Aspergillus flavus

(Osuntokun et al., 2020)

25–33

72 h

5.44–6.35

Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus polymyxa, Staphylococcus aureus, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Rhizopus stolonifera, Mucor mucedo

(Adegbehingbe & Daramola, 2019)

African locust bean

(Parkia biglobosa) and Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus)

Acidic-Spontaneous

26–31

72 h

5.74–5.20

Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus polymyxa, Lactobacillus casei

Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium expansum

(Adegbehingbe & Daramola, 2019)

African yam

Bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa)

Acidic-Mixed

30

48 h

-

Lactiplantibacillus plantarum

(Azeke et al., 2005)

Alkaline-Spontaneous

33–46

72 h

6.8–7.52

Bacillus pumilis, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus spp.

(Ogbonna et al., 2001)

Controlled

30

120 h

Bacillus amyloliquefacien, Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus siamensis

(Okolie et al., 2023)

Cowpeas

(Vigna unguiculata)

Controlled

72 h

Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, Oenococcus oeni, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Acetobacter aceti

(Ferreira et al., 2019)

Bambara groundnut

(Vigna subterranean)

Alkaline-Spontaneous

30

4 days

7.0–8.0

Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus licheniformis

(Amadi et al., 1999)

Alkaline-Spontaneous

30

2 days

Bacillus licheniformis

Alkaline-Controlled

30, 37 and 45

4 days

 ~ 6.6 – 8.7

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)^a

Spontaneous

21 days

Bacillus spp., Propionibacterium spp., Lactobacillus spp., Citrobacter spp., Enterobacter spp., Klebsiella spp.

(ElGasim & Abaker, 2012)

Jack bean (Canavalia ensiformis)

Controlled

7 days

Limosilactobacillus fermentum strain LF4801 Pediococcus pentosaceus strain PP4601 Bacillus polymyxa strain BP 1801, Alcaligenes faecalis strain AF1803, Klebsiella ozaenae strain KO1802 and Rhizopus oryzae strain MF4801, Mucor mucedo strain MF4802, Aspergillus niger strain MF4803, Varicosporium elodea strain MF4804, Neurospora crassa strain MF4806, Brettanomyces bruxellensis strain YF2401, Schizosaccharomyces pombes strain YF2404

(Gabriel-Ajobiewe, 2011)

Kersting's Groundnut (Macrotyloma geocarpum (Harms))

Spontaneous

3 days

Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus subtilis,

Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus polymyxa, Bacillus coagulans, Lactobacillus plantarum, Staphylococccus aureus, Aspergillus niger, Rhodotorula spp.,

Aspergillus parasiticus, Rhizopus stolonifer and Saccharomyces cerevisiae

(Abiola & Oyetayo, 2016)

Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus)

Acidic-Spontaneous

26–31

72 h

5.78–4.63

Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus polymyxa, Lactobacillus casei, Micrococcus rubens, Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium expansum

(Adegbehingbe & Daramola, 2019)

Mesquite

Prosopis africana

Spontaneous

3 days

Not mentioned

(Odibo et al., 2008)

TF

TF

TF

Bacillus atrophaeus/velezensis, Bacillus tequilensis/cabrialesii, Bacillus cereus/paramycoides, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens/siamensis, Bacillus lichenformis/haynesii, Bacillus anthracis, Bacillus siamensis, Staphylococcus ureilyticus/cohnii, Staphylococcus nepalensis, Staphylococcus simulans, Escherichia fergusonni, Shigella flexneri, Oceanobacillus caeni, Paenibacillus barcinonensis, Lynsinibacillus xylanilyticus, and Vagacoccus lutrae (Identified fermented Mesquite products from different markets)

(Agunwah et al., 2024)

Mung bean (Vigna radiata L.)

Spontaneous

7 days

Bacillus spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, Saccharomyces cerevisae, Aspergillus spp., Penicillium italicum

(John & Olusegun, 2016)

Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan)^a

Spontaneous

96 h

Bacillus subtills, Bacillus megatarium, Staphylococcus Spp, Saccharomyces cerevisae

(Oyarekua, 2011)

Soybeans (Glycine max (L.) Merr.)

Alkaline Spontaneous

TF

TF

TF

Bacillus tequilensis, Nosocomiicoccus ampullae

(Ezeokoli et al., 2016b)

29

72 h

7.06–8.19

Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus safensis, Bacillus anthracis, Enterobacter hormaechei, Enterococcus casseliflavus, Staphylococcus sciuri, Staphylococcus xylosus, Bacillus tequilensis, Bacillus methylotrophicus,

Bacillus siamensis, Enterobacter hormaechei

(Ezeokoli et al., 2016a)

Tamarind (Tamarindus indica L.)

Spontaneous

72 h

-

Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus licheniformis and Staphylococcus spp

(Olagunju et al., 2018)

Velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens)

Controlled

29

72 h

-

Rhizopus oligosporus

(Ezegbe et al., 2023)