Physicochemical, functional and economic analysis of complementary food from cereal, oilseed and animal polypeptide

In this work, ready-to-eat complementary foods were formulated from cereal (maize), oilseed (sesame) and animal polypeptide (crayfish). Proximate, physicochemical, functional, amino acid composition, sensory and economic evaluations were carried out on the formulated food blends. The results showed that protein content ranged from 20.78-28.09%, moisture (3.60-5.55%), fat (13.26-17.97%), fibre (6.30-8.24%), and carbohydrate (33.89-50.54%). The physicochemical and functional analyses showed that packed bulk density ranged from 0.61-0.69, water absorption capacity (39-96%), oil absorption capacity (8.81-23.13%), pH (6.06-6.09), gelling temperature (65-71oC), swelling index (129-131.75%). The amino acid compositions showed that all the essential amino acids were present in the three formulated diets and appreciable number of them met the Food and Agricultural Organization reference values. The sensory evaluations showed mean scores range: taste (6.01-7.02), aroma (6.51-7.11), colour (6.51-7.53), Mouth feel (4.91-7.31), consistency (7.61-7.72) and overall acceptance (6.81-7.22). Economic analyses showed that the total cost of the formulated food blends ranged from N62.40 to N70.20 per 100 g, which resulted into 49.86%-55.43% cost reduction when compared to the commercial product (cerelac). The research indicated that complementary food products formulated from cereal, oilseed and animal polypeptide can meet the macro nutritional needs of infants and young children. Formulated diets had nutritional superiority over the control cerelac in terms of protein, ash, fat and total energy (kCal) composition. The formulated complementary food can be used to substitute the more expensive proprietary formula product (cerelac), which can be used to combat the problem of malnutrition among infants and children in Nigeria and other developing countries.