We have investigated the impact of different yeasts and fermentation time on folate content and composition in a fermented maize-based porridge, called togwa, consumed in rural areas in Tanzania. The yeasts studied, originally isolated from indigenous togwa, belong to Issatchenkia orientalis, Pichia anomala, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Klyveromyces marxianus and Candida glabrata. The main folate forms found, detected and quantified by HPLC during the fermentations were 5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate (5-CH(3)-H(4)folate) and tetrahydrofolate (H(4)folate). The content of H(4)folate, per unit togwa, remained fairly stable at a low level throughout the experiment for all strains, whereas the 5-CH(3)-H(4)folate concentration was highly dependent on yeast strain as well as on fermentation time. The highest folate concentration was found after 46 h of fermentation with C. glabrata (TY26) (6.91+/-0.14 microg 100 mL(-1)), corresponding to a 23-fold increase compared with unfermented togwa. The cell concentration per se could not predict the togwa folate level, as shown by the much higher specific folate content (g folate CFU(-1)) in the S. cerevisiae strain (TY08) compared with the other species tested. This study provides useful data when trying to maximize folate content in togwa as well as in other yeast-fermented products.