Nutritional Evaluation of Formulated Maize-based, Ready-to-Use Complementary Food and Sensory Properties of the Gruel
Abstract
The study investigated nutritional properties and sensory attributes of formulated, ready-to-use maize-based complementary foods. The study adopted experimental research design. Three composite flour samples with the ratios of 8:4:2 1:5, 9:5:1:4 and 10:51:1:4 of maize soybean, yeast, moringa seed and date fruit (sample 1, sample 2 and sample 3) respectively were formulated and subjected to nutrients analysis using standard procedures. Twenty-member panel of judges was employed to determine the organoleptic attributes, using a 9-point hedonic scale. Mean, one-way analyses of variance (ANOVA), Fishers Least Significant Difference (LSD) were used for data analysis. Results show that sample 1had highest ash (36.44±0.52g/100g),fat (15.45±0.27g/100g) and protein (3.52±0.44g/100g) content whereas the highest crude fibre (2.37±0.03g/100g),carbohydrate (44.18±0.03g/100g) and moisture (8.82±0.44g/100g) values were recorded in sample 3. Sample 1 had the highest concentration of all the vitamins analyzed with the exception of pro-vitamin A(beta-carotene) which was highest in sample 3 (0.018±0.0mg/100g). Result on mineral composition indicated that sample 1had the highest (p<0.05) zinc (3.37±0.14mg/100g), magnesium (383.05±10.07mg/100g and potassium (643.10±4.84mg/100g) whereas sample 3 recorded the highest (p<0.05) calcium (232.05±1.01mg/100g) and iron (10.15±0.15mg/100g) values. Sample one formulation yielded the most acceptable gruel (8.20±0.95a).