Abstract

Hussna Mkenya, Lilpheez Sharafadeen and Donatus Aderomu

Complementary foods in most developing countries are based on staple cereal or root crops. Although, commercial foods of high quality are occasionally available, they are often expensive and therefore unaffordable by low-income rural households. Different approaches are needed to offer families the opportunity to feed their infants on improved formulations using low cost and locally available staples. To improve the protein and energy intake of infants in Iringa region, Tanzania, nine complementary foods were formulated (F1-F9) based on maize, sorghum and finger millet as staples and common beans, cowpeas and green peas as protein supplements. The samples were germinated and spatially roasted to improve the nutritive value and sensory attribute of formulated recipes. The amounts of various staples (cereals) and supplements needed to provide 292 kcal of energy and raise the protein level to 8% Net Protein Energy (NPE) as one third of 6 month old infant’s daily energy and protein requirement were calculated. The protein level was calculated on the basis of the most limiting amino acid in each mixture, using amino acid score. All the formulations were evaluated for their acceptability by both semi- and untrained panelists using a five point hedonic scale. Although, many formulations were found to be organoleptically acceptable recording moderately to extremely like scores, generally formulations F3 (47 g maize + 11 g beans + 5 g oil + 12 g sugar) and F9 (47 g sorghum+11 g cowpeas+5 g oil+12 g sugar) were highly acceptable by both groups of panelists and scored significantly (P < 0.05) higher than the other formulated complementary foods. Their mean score ranged between 4.2 to 4.35 in terms of taste and general acceptability. Addition of sugar and oil was found to improve the sensory attribute of the formulated foods contributed to their higher acceptability.