ABSTRACT

The use of maize, African yam bean, groundnut and crayfish flour blends in the formulation of complementary foods was studied. The maize, African yam bean and crayfish flours were blended in the ratios of 80:10:10:5, 70:15:10: 5, 60:20:15:5, and 50:25:20:5 respectively and used to formulate complementary foods. The proximate, mineral, vitamin and sensory properties of the formulated products were determined using standard analytical methods. The moisture content of the samples were significantly high in all the samples and ranged from 55.75% to 65.32%. The fat, and crude fibre contents of the blends showed similar increases from 1.43 -2.05%, 0.23-3.1.84% respectively, the ash and protein content ranged from 1.29-3.02% and 12.97-18.48 while the carbohydrate and energy value ranged from 11.77-28.33%  and 178.07-127.91 kcal. The mineral composition of the complementary foods showed that the calcium, potassium, sodium and magnesium contents of the samples varied between 25.95 mg/100g – 28.30 mg/100g, 1.81 – 1.96 mg/100g.  2.68 mg/100g – 5.40 mg/100g, 0.71–1.24 mg/100g, and 1.35mg/100g – 1.94 mg/100g, respectively. The vitamin content of the samples also showed that the vitamin A pro, Vitamin B_1, Vitamin B_2, Niacin_, and Vitamin C contents of the complementary foods ranged from 4.22 mg/100g -11.61 mg/100g, 0.42mg/100g - 1.05 mg/100g, 1.80 mg/100g - 2.85mg/100g, 0.73 mg/100g – 1.01 mg/100 and 3.10mg/100g – 30.17mg/100g. The control sample recorded highest in vitamin B₁ and Niacin while Thiamin and niacin had the least values for all the vitamins evaluated. The anti-nutrient content of the complementary foods showed that, tannin, phytate, saponin, flavonoid and phenol ranged from 0.01 mg/g - 0.39 mg/g, 0.01mg/100g – 1.43 mg/100g, 0.12 mg/100g - 1.18 mg/100g, 0.09 mg/100g – 1.13 mg/100g and 0.01 mg/100g – 0.14 mg/100g. The sensory evaluation of the complementary food showed that the control sample scored highest in all the samples in terms of taste, appearance mouthfeel, colour and general acceptability. Although the sample meets the consumers’ sensory attributes, it is not relatively the highest in other nutrients. The study, however, showed that the developed complementary food samples could help to alleviate the problem of protein-energy malnutrition among infants and children in developing countries by providing them with adequate nutrients needed for optimum growth and development.