Ethnic fermented foods and beverages of Meghalaya

Abstract

Meghalaya is primarily inhabited by the indigenous tribes comprising of Khasi, Jaintia and Garo. The tribal population is known for practicing various traditional ways of preserving and storing foods. Among them, spontaneous fermentation of soybean and fish using indigenous technology are most prevalent. The raw materials for the process are acquired locally and are subjected to fermentation where microflora appearing spontaneously carry out the biochemical process. The resultant products have unique flavour and taste which forms an ingredient of the regular food habits of the tribes. Among various microorganisms that have been described from these foods, lactic acid bacteria and yeasts are primarily involved in the fermentation. The end product of fermentation not only helps in processing but also is an indigenous method of long-term storage of the products. The microflora prevalent in the processing consists of health-promoting bacteria of probiotics category. The fermented soybean is locally called as tungrymbai, while the fermented fish product is called tungtap. The traditional production of tungrymbai uses soybean (Glycine max (L.)) where the preparation involves washing, boiling and wrapping in leaves (Pyrnium pubinerve) followed by incubation. In case of tungtap, fresh fish (Puntius spp. or Danio spp.) are used as raw materials. Preparation of tungtap can be achieved by two methods, i.e. pre-fermentation salting or post-fermentation salting.