ABSTRACT

In Nigeria, malnutrition remains a major public health problem among infants. This is because the predominant population of rural communities who are low income earners cannot afford the commercial fortified complementary foods, this research was designed to formulate and assess nutrient dense complementary food that is cost effective using available staple foodstuffs, standard AOAC methods were used to determine the proximate, vitamin, anti-nutrient and functional properties of the samples and minerals determined using dry ashing-acid extraction method. The data obtained were analyzed using analysis ofvariance and Ducan’s multiple range test used to determine the means and standard deviation at significant level of p<0.005. The moisture content ranged from 65 - 74.30%, protein 4.95-14.09%, fat 1.03-13.45%, fibre 0.19- 1.06%. ash 0.54-2.00%, carbohydrate 4.52-18.79% and energy 757.23-1967.35KJ/100g. The mineral ranged between calcium 63.23-73.57mg/l00g, Iron 0.20 - 1.98mg/100g, potassium 186.85 -234.50mg/100g, sodium 26.40-33.06mg/100g, Zinc 1.25-3.55mg/l00g, copper 0.025- 0.061 mcg 100g, Iodine 0.08-4.56mcg/100g and selenium 0.047-0.072mcg/l 00g. The vitamins ranged from thiamin 0.33- 0.50mg/100g, riboflavin 1.38-2.12mg/100g, vitamin C 11.62— 16.90mg/100g and p-carotene 3.50 - 31.50mcg/100g. The anti-nutrients ranged from oxalate 0.07-0.14mg/100g, phytate 0.0023- 0.0058mg/100g and tannin 0.49-5.28mg/l00g. The functional properties; viscosity, pH and bulk density ranged between 4.44-5.02kpa, 4.46-7.14 and 1.25-1.30 respectively. The sensory properties; mouth feel, taste and colour ranged from 3.81—4.60, 3.80-4.60 and 4.10—4.90 respectively. The general acceptability of the products depended on the degree of likeness of its mouth feel, taste and colour. However, product S:C:P(60:20:20) was most preferred and very rich in the key nutrients (protein, fat, carbohydrate, energy, iron, calcium, zinc, vitamin C, riboflavin and P-carotene) for infants and young children. Consequently, enriching sorghum pap with peanut and cashew nut paste increased the nutrient content of the product and this could make a difference on the prevent of protein energy malnutrition among the infants and children in the developing countries like Nigeria.