In this research work, fresh locally fermented soy-dawadawa was investigated for the presence of bacteria. Samples of fresh locally fermented soy-dawadawa each from four (4) different materials (banana leaves, pawpaw leaves, gmalina leaves and polythene sacks) used as fermentation media for soy-dawadawa production were collected from local women vendors in Makurdi town, Benue state, Nigeria and analysed for the presence of bacteria. The bacteria isolated were Bacillus spp., E.coli, Salmonell spp., Streptococcus spp., Lactobacillus spp. and Staphylococcus aureus. The predominant bacteria species isolated (Bacillus subtilis) was used to ferment a laboratory prepared soy-dawadawa under controlled conditions. The pH, temperature and the population of the fermenting organisms were measured after every 10hrs during the fermentation of the laboratory prepared dawdawa that lasted for 72hrs. The sensory evaluation was conducted on both the locally fermented and laboratory fermented soy-dawadawa and the result showed that laboratory fermented soy-dawadawa was the most acceptable.
