cff-version: 1.2.0 abstract: "

The data were collected from a field survey which involved a systematic sampling of milk samples following traditional dairy fermentation in Zambia. The aim was to determine if geographical location influences the fermenting microbial community diversity and its community functionality, represented by B-complex vitamins, volatile organic compounds, pH and consistency (viscosity). The Illumina platform was used for 16S rDNA sequencing to profile the microbial communities, while high pressure liquid chromatography was used for B-group vitamin analysis, gas chromatography mass spectrophotometry was used for volatile organic compound determination, a pH meter for pH readings, and an Adam's consistometer for measuring the consistency.

" authors: - family-names: Nehanda given-names: Shepherd orcid: "https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4297-8829" - family-names: Alekseeva given-names: Anna orcid: "https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0164-0539" - family-names: van Mastrigt given-names: Oscar orcid: "https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6576-910X" - family-names: Chileshe given-names: Justin orcid: "https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4134-2851" - family-names: Zwaan given-names: Bas J. orcid: "https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8221-4998" - family-names: Smid given-names: Eddy J. orcid: "https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6687-5083" - family-names: Schoustra given-names: Sijmen E. orcid: "https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7843-5539" title: "Data underlying the publication: Geographical location drives microbial community diversity, B-complex vitamin enrichment, and functional properties during mabisi fermentation" keywords: version: 1 identifiers: - type: doi value: 10.4121/a7f35193-1cd1-4ee7-ad6b-4690a7c93797.v1 license: CC BY 4.0 date-released: 2025-07-30