3 research outputs found
Nutritive assessment of sorghum-ogi plantain flour weaning food
The high rate of malnutrition in children is exclusively attributed to non-affordability
of nursing mothers from low-income population to meet the high prices of commercial weaning
foods. This has largely affected the dietary status of infant when they reach weaning stage. In
this study, utilisation of plantain flour (Musa spp.) for enhancing the nutritive value of Sorghum-
Ogi as common weaning food in southwest Africa was investigated. Same quantity of 100 g/g
of Sorghum-Ogi was prepared for each of the batches with increasing quantity of plantain flour
at 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100% levels of addition to prepare the study samples. Proximate analysis,
functional properties, pasting and organoleptic properties, microbial load of the samples were
determined using the AOAC official methods for nutritional labelling. Results of proximate
analysis showed decreased protein (10.28 – 6.13%), carbohydrate (40.37-7.55%) and ash
(1.4-0.3%) contents with increased level of plantain flour addition, while the fat and crude fibre
contents increased with increased addition of plantain flour. The functional analysis indicated
28.6% increase in water absorption value at 60% enhancement with decreased value at 100%
addition. The microbial load of the blend showed that the food blends are safe for consumption
at all level and the organoleptic evaluation by trained panellist preferred 60% acceptance rate of
enhancement. In conclusion, the nutritional indices analysed specified the use of plantain flour
with Sorghum-Ogi as weaning food up to 60% level of inclusion to handle the nutritional
deficiency in neonates during weaning stage of development