Several traditional fermented foods and beverages are produced at the household level in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These include fermented cereal-based porridges from sorghum or eleusine ( musululu ), from corn (mandrakwa and Munkoyo); fermented cereal-based foods (bakinde), fermented milk products (mashanza and kivuguto), fermented root-based foods (kwanga, lobe, tshomba tshia kabiola, tshomba tsha mbenzu, fufu), sugar cane wine (lungwila), banana wine (kasiski, butunda), palm wine (malafu ma nsamba, malafu ma tombe) ; leaves-based foods (Tshimpondela), and the most popular distilled spirit (lotoko). There are many regional variations to the preparations of each fermented product, but some are typical to some areas or some regional tribes. Research of the processing technologies, physicochemical and microbiological parameters of these foods and drinks are still lacking. In order to suggest optimization or industrialization of the production process, this article reviews the available information regarding traditional fermented foods and drinks in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Keywords: Traditional fermented foods, kasiksi, munkoyo, kwanga, lotoko, Tshimpondela.