The aim of this study was to develop a nutrient‐enhanced millet‐based composite flour incorporating skimmed milk powder and vegetables for children aged 6–59 months. Two processing methods were tested to optimize nutrient content and quality of millet‐based composite flour, namely germination for 0, 24 and 48 hr and roasting at 80, 100, and 140°C. The amount of ingredients in the formulation was determined using Nutri‐survey software. Germinating millet grains for 48 hr at room temperature significantly (p < 0.05) increased protein content (9.3%–10.6%), protein digestibility (22.3%–65.5%), and total sugars (2.2%–5.5%), while phytate content (3.9–3.7 mg/g) decreased significantly (p < 0.05). Roasting millet grains at 140°C significantly (p < 0.05) increased the protein digestibility (22.3%–60.1%) and reduced protein (9.3%–7.8%), phytate (3.9–3.6 mg/g), and total sugar content (2.2%–1.9%). Germinating millet grains at room temperature for 48 hr resulted in millet flour with the best nutritional quality and was adopted for the production of millet‐based composite flour. Addition of vegetables and skimmed milk powder to germinated millet flour significantly (p < 0.05) increased the macro‐ and micronutrient contents and the functional properties of millet‐based composite flour. The study demonstrated that the use of skimmed milk powder and vegetables greatly improves the protein quality and micronutrient profile of millet‐based complementary foods. The product has the potential to make a significant contribution to the improvement of nutrition of children in developing countries.

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) and under nutrition are major public health concerns in developing countries. Diets with high vitamin A and animal protein can help reduce the problem of VAD and under nutrition respectively. In this study, composite flours were developed from orange fleshed sweet potato (OFSP), amaranth leaves and skimmed milk powders; 78:2:20, 72.5:2.5:25, 65:5:30 and 55:10:35. The physico-chemical characteristics of the composite flours were determined using standard methods while sensory acceptability of porridges was rated on a nine-point hedonic scale using a trained panel. Results indicated a significant (p < 0.05) increase in protein (12.1 to 19.9%), iron (4.8 to 97.4 mg/100 g) and calcium (45.5 to 670.2 mg/100 g) contents of the OFSP-based composite flours. The vitamin A content of composite flours contributed from 32% to 442% of the recommended dietary allowance of children aged 6–59 months. The composite flours showed a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in solubility, swelling power and scores of porridge attributes with increase in substitution levels of skimmed milk and amaranth leaf powder. The study findings indicate that the OFSP-based composite flours have the potential to make a significant contribution to the improvement in the nutrition status of children aged 6–59 months in developing countries.

BACKGROUND Millet porridge is a major complementary food used in Uganda but it is limited in protein and micronutrients such as zinc and beta‐carotene. Addition of milk and vegetable powders are known to greatly improve the nutrient content of millet flour. However, there was limited information on the shelf stability of the resultant composite flour. This study aimed at assessing the effect of milk and vegetable powders on the shelf stability of millet‐based composite flour. RESULTS There was a general increase in the moisture content, peroxide value (PV), free fatty acids (FFA), thiobaturic acid (TBA) and total plate count (TPC) of both composite and millet flours over the eight weeks storage period. However, higher moisture content, PV, FFA, TBA and TPC values were recorded in the composite flour compared to millet flour (control) at each sampling interval. Sensory evaluation results revealed that panelists preferred porridges prepared from millet only compared to those from composite flour. The degree of liking of porridges from both composite and millet flours generally decreased over the storage period. However, both porridges were deemed as acceptable by the end of the storage period. The TPC also remained below 10 5 cfu g −1 which is the maximum limit recommended by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS). CONCLUSION The study findings indicated that the addition of milk and vegetable powders negatively affected the stability of the composite flour. We recommend further studies to stabilize the product during storage. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

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