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Free Vaccine for Meningococcus Bacterial Infection.

Chinese Pharmaceutical Companies to Invest in Pakistan.

China Mulls Fighting Iron Deficiency with Fortified Flour.

China Destoys Contaminated Imported Meat.

Northern Ireland and Hong Kong to Collaborate in Biotech.

Hong Kong Cleans Up Poultry Markets to Halt Bird Flu Virus.

Japanese Consumers to Get Information on Beef.

Some Agricultural Statistics in Korea.

Malaysia and Thailand to Boost Scientific Collaboration.

Singapore Expects More Biomedical Investments in 2002.

Simple Test Kit for Cancer to Hit Shelves Soon.

Singapore Offers Online Medical Services.

Second Heart Center Set Up in Singapore.

Taiwan Industrial Parks Offer 40 Percent Rental Discount.

Thai Government Urged to Strengthen Economic Ties with China.

Aerial yam (Dioscorea bulbifera) is one of the varieties of yam cultivated in Nigeria but less consumed. To diversify the processing methods and encourage its other uses, the yam was subjected to fermentation process for 5 days. The microbial, pH and titratable acidity (%TA) of the fermenting mash as well as the proximate composition of the fermented and unfermented flour were assessed. The total viable counts increased from 1.64 × 10⁸ cfu/ml by day 3 and decreased to 7.62 × 10² cfu/ml at the end of fermentation. While the pH decreased, the TA increased at the end of fermentation. The prevalent microbial genera involved in the fermentation were Lactobacillus, Bacillus and Penicilium. The proximate composition of the fermented flour differed significantly (p<0.05) from the unfermented with increased protein content from 6.78g/100g (control) to 9.26g/100g. Fermentation improved the nutritional and microbial quality of aerial yam flour.