Formulation and Evaluation of Complementary Foods from Flour Blends of Sprouted Paddy Rice (Oryza sativa), Sprouted African Yam Bean (Sphenostylis sternocarpa) and Pawpaw Fruit (Carica papaya)

Aims: To formulate a readily available complementary food that meets infant nutritional requirements and compares favourably with a popular commercial diet (Nestlé Nutrend) from Brown rice grains (Oryza sativa), African yam bean seeds (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) and pawpaw fruit pulp (Carica papaya).

Study Design: The design of the experiment is a completely randomised design (CRD).

Place and Duration of Study: The study took place at the Department of Food Science and Technology, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike between January and October 2017.

Methodology: Brown rice grains (Oryza sativa), African yam bean seeds (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) and pawpaw fruit pulp (Carica papaya) were used to formulate a complementary food. The cereal and legume used were sprouted and made into flours then mixed with dried pawpaw flour. Three complementary diets in the proportion 60:30:10, 65:25:10 and 70:20:10 were formulated. Standard chemical methods were used to analyse their proximate composition, micronutrient composition and functional properties. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Duncan's multiple range test, with the level of significance set at p =0.05.

Results: One-hundred-gram portion of the formulated diets were analysed to contain dietary fibre in the range of 3.36% to 3.61% and thus would be easily digestible. These diets showed superiority over the commercial diet in their protein content which was 20.52%, 19.83% and 19.17% respectively following the ratio above against 14.18% for Nutrend. On the other hand, Nutrend -the commercial diet recorded 14.47 mg of iron whereas the study diets had higher iron levels of 20.42 mg for 60:30:10, 20.65 mg for 65:25:10 and 20.88 mg for 70:20:10. The flours were low in bulk density although the commercial diet was lower. Its carotenoid, thiamine and riboflavin levels fell short of Codex recommended levels for complementary foods. However, vitamin C values met the 13.34 mg Codex standard for complementary foods although the vitamin C value for the control diet- Nutrend was higher. Sensory characteristics showed that the porridges were generally slightly liked. Use of these formulated complementary foods especially diet 60:30:10 may be encouraged as an alternative to the regular poor nutrient traditional complementary foods and the expensive commercial formula.

Conclusion: Nutrient-dense complementary food can be successfully produced from brown rice, an under-utilised legume- African yam bean seeds and pawpaw fruit. The diets can be used by urban and rural mothers to feed infants during complementary feeding periods and have great potential in substituting more expensive commercial formula products while solving the problem of protein-energy malnutrition.