PRODUCTION AND EVALUATION OF COMPLEMENTARY FOOD FROM BLENDS OF PEARL MILLET (PENNISETUM GLAUCUM), TIGERNUT (CYPERUS ESULENTUS L) AND CRAYFISH (PROCAMBARUS CLARKII)
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The consumption of appropriate complementary foods has been recommended by nutrition experts for the development of infants and young children. This study aimed to determine the nutrient composition of complementary foods formulated from pearl millet, tiger-nut and crayfish flour. The complementary foods was formulated in the following proportions:100:0:0; 70:20:10; 60:30:10; 50:40:10 and 50:50:0 respectively. The formulated foods were evaluated for proximate, minerals, microbiological and sensory attributes using standard methods. The proximate analysis revealed that protein, fat, ash ,crude fibre, carbohydrate and energy content ranged from 13.13-20.68%, 9.44-13.50%, 2.17-4.33%, 1.03-2.91%, 55.02-62.02% and 386.48-424.30kcal respectively while calcium, iron and zinc contents ranged from 20.45-30.92 mg/100g, 3.71-6.42mg/100g and 4.42- 11.18g/100g respectively. The results indicated that the Total Essential Amino acid( TEAA) ranged from 29.88 to 38.37g/100g of protein while the Biological Value (BV) ranged from 53.04 to 71.85%. The PercentageTotal Essential Amino acid/ Total amino acid (%TEAA/TAA) of the formulated samples ranged from 37.86-39.85% which were higher than 30.1g/day recommended value by Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization(FAO/WHO) and also higher than 36% considered as adequate for an ideal protein for infant. Microbial determination indicated that there was no coliform and Escherichia coli presence in the samples. Sensory evaluation showed that the formulated food samples have good acceptability with sample E(50:50:0) as the most accepted. The results showed that an acceptable complementary food can be developed from a combination of millet, tiger-nut and crayfish flour blends which would provide both macro and micro nutrients that is sufficient or adequate to support growth and development of infants and young children samples.