ABSTRACT

 Dawadawa  is  the  designated  name  by  the  Hausa  tribe in  West Africa  for  fermented  locust  beans  (Parkia biglobosa). It is a culinary product that can be used to enhance or intensify meatiness in soups, sauces and other prepared dishes.  African locust bean (Parkia biglobosa) is a nutritious source of food since it is rich in protein and has beneficial health components. The high nutritional content however makes this local condiment a good harbor for various bacteria and fungi. In evaluating the activity of chitosan against bacterial isolates, the bacteria isolated from dried and wet samples of dawadawa were species of Bacillus, Salmonella, Shigella and Citrobacter freundii. The fungal isolates obtained were Fusarium and Saccharomyces. The total bacteria load obtained in this study ranged from 3.07x10⁶ ± 0.33 to 6.00x10⁶ ± 0.58 CFU/g and total fungal load values from 3.00x10³ ± 0.00 to 8.40x10³ ± 0.33 CFU/g. It was also observed in this study that the isolated bacteria demonstrated resistance to some of the antibiotics in the antibacterial susceptibility testing, suggesting the presence of multi drug resistant strains. In this study, the antibacterial activity of chitosan against the isolated bacteria was evaluated. Chitosan demonstrated strong inhibitory activity against the bacteria compared to standard antibiotics used during the experiment with zone of inhibition values ranging from from 12 mm (Shigella sp) to 46 mm (Bacillus subtilis). This study has demonstrated the need for an effective alternative to commercial antibiotics and the beneficial effects of chitosan towards human health.