Evaluation of Nutritional and Sensory Quality of Complementary Food from Selected Spices, Soy and Maize Blends

Aims: This study examined the nutritional composition and consumer acceptability of complementary food produced using selected spices and soy-maize blends.

Study Design: The produce formulated complementary food using different proportions of maize, soybeans, turmeric and ginger powders and to evaluate the blends for their nutritive and Sensory qualities.

Place and Duration: The Processing and preparations were done in the Department of Family Nutrition and Consumer Sciences kitchen. All analyses were done at the Central Laboratory, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The experiment was conducted between March and July 2018.

Methodology: The blends were formulated by mixing maize flour, soybeans flour and ginger powder in the ratio of 85:10:5 and 70:20:10 respectively, and with turmeric powder in the same ratio. These blends were evaluated for their nutritive value using standard methods. Sensory evaluation was also carried out to assess the acceptability of the blends. Results obtained were subjected to statistical analysis.

Results: The proximate analysis showed that samples 85:10:5 and 70:20:10 (Maize-soybeans-ginger) contained protein (18.9 and 34.7)%, fat (4.7 and 10.6)%, crude fibre (1.6 and 1.49)%, ash (2.9 and 3.5)% while sample 85:10:5 and 70:20:10 (Maize- soybeans- turmeric) contained protein (21.5 and 29.0)%, fat (8.6 and 19.7)%, crude fibre (1.3 and 2.8)% and ash (3.9 and 5.6)% respectively. Sensory evaluation showed that blend 85:10:5 (Maize-soybeans-ginger) was more preferred in terms of taste, flavour, and general acceptability while sample 70:20:10 (Maize- soybeans- turmeric) was generally more acceptable in terms of colour and texture.

Conclusion: The study has shown that nutrient dense complementary food can be produced from blends of turmeric, ginger, soybeans and maize, which are locally available and will help reduce the cost of the products and also minimise the outlay of foreign currency, which is an important economic consideration for developing countries like Nigeria.