The prominent cause of stunting in Cameroon is zinc deficiency as reported by Anyangwe [3] and is known to affect 33% of children under the age of 5 years. Also anemia (caused by iron deficiency) was reported to be high (49.3%) among pregnant women, by the World Health Organisation. [4] Protein deficiency is aggravated by bland, starchy staple foods especially in the northern regions with corn and millet serving as the main staple foods. [2] These protein deficient meals present the risk of protein malnutrition (kwashiorkor) in children that need to be well fed in the first 1000 d of their lives. [5] This suggests the need for food programs that intervene in curbing malnutrition rates. [6] Yoghurt can serve as a good source of protein in order to prevent kwashiorkor especially to weaned children below 5 years old. Commercial yoghurt is relatively expensive when compared to soy yoghurt due to soymilk substitution of cow milk. Composite soy-milk yogurt is thus a relatively inexpensive source of protein-energy as well as micronutrients upon soymilk substitution. [7] Recent increase in snacking within low and middle income countries such as Asia, Latin America and Africa, [8] suggests that a possible intervention could be to fortify snacks (such as yoghurt). The fortification potential of Moringa oleifera has been studied more in the leaves than its roots. Kurana and Rajni [9] show that the roots are also of nutritional importance. Moringa oleifera The organoleptic and physicochemical properties of soy-milk yoghurt enriched with moringa root powder are evaluated here. Moringa oleifera soy-milk yoghurt is produced at different formulations blended from cow milk: soymilk: Moringa in a ratio of A (100%:0%:0%; B (60%:39.9%:0.1%); C (50%:49.9%:0.1%), D (40%:59.9%:0.1%), and E (0%:99.9%:0.1%) with sample A serving as the control. Sensory analysis is done for each formulation and the physicochemical properties of the preferred formulations are performed. The pH and titratable acidity are measured by a pH meter and titration respectively. Proximate composition is measured according to Association of Official Analytical Chemists methods. The mineral content is determined by atomic spectrophotometry. Results show that soy-milk Moringa enriched yoghurts (B and C) are preferred after choosing the control (A) as the best. The incorporation of the soy-milk Moringa significantly increases the fat, fiber, protein, copper manganese, and iron content in the samples (p < 0.05). Thus Moringa enriched soy-milk yoghurts (B and C) represent a cheaper alternative to the control (A) providing protein-energy for low income families that is expected to help reduce the occurrence of kwashiorkor and wasting. The presence of zinc and calcium is expected to help in bone growth and development hence preventing stunting in children under five years and iron is expected to help reduce the prevalence of anemia among pregnant women.
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