Consumer acceptability of a synbiotic version of the maize beverage mageu

This study examined the possibility of converting mageu, a fermented maize beverage popular throughout southern Africa, into a health-promoting and affordable alternative to probiotic dairy products. A range of probiotic Lactobacillus species was compared with a control species traditionally used to prepare mageu. Prebiotic oligosaccharide (soluble fibre), which enhances the growth of beneficial bacteria, was also included. The resulting beverages were compared in two ways: sensory attributes were determined by a trained panel using quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA), and consumer acceptability was assessed by 53 untrained volunteers. The QDA results suggest that mageu fermented by Lb. acidophilus or Lb. rhamnosus was most similar to the control mageu, while Lb. paracasei mageu and Lb. casei mageu were least similar. The consumer acceptability data confirmed that Lb. acidophilus or Lb. rhamnosus mageu did not differ significantly from the control, suggesting that either of these is suitable for commercial production of probiotic mageu.