Development of ready-to-eat supplementary foods using germinated cereal-pulse mix, potato flour and green leafy vegetable for malnourished children

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop and standardize nutrient dense, easily digestible and affordable ready-to-eat supplementary foods from locally available ingredients for malnourished children and to assess their nutritional composition. Design/methodology/approach – To develop supplementary foods, wheat and green gram were germinated, dried and made into flour. Potatoes of “Kufri Pukhraj” variety procured from university were washed, peeled, sliced, boiled, dipped in potassium metabisulphite solution, dried and grounded into flour. Spinach leaves were washed, dried and made into powder. Five wholesome ready-to-eat supplementary foods, namely, panjiri, mathi, seviyan, biscuits and pinni, were developed from germinated cereal, pulse and potato flour and spinach leaves powder. The products were standardized with potato flour and spinach leaves powder. The developed products were analyzed for proximate composition by standardized methods. Findings – One-way analysis of variance and Tukey’s test was used to obtain differences in organoleptic scores within different levels of treatments. All five supplementary foods were acceptable at 30 per cent level of potato flour and 2.5 per cent level of spinach leaves powder. Mean scores of panjiri, mathi, seviyan, biscuits and pinni were significantly different (p < 0.05). Significant (p < 0.05) difference was observed in terms of moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre and ash content among the developed products. Practical implications – The developed ready-to-eat supplementary foods can be recommended for supplementary feeding programmes running in the country. Originality/value – The paper aims at the development of high energy protein supplementary foods for malnourished children. The developed complementary food blend is made up of variety of food groups like cereal, pulse, root and tuber and green leafy vegetables to provide wholesome nutrition to children. This is different to originally provided supplementary foods to children made up of only cereal. The developed products also add a variety to supplementary foods given to malnourished children in supplementary feeding programmes.

Development of quality protein product using biofortified maize to combat malnutrition among young children

“…Similarly, Diaz, Rosado, and Allen (2003) observed that the iron absorption capacity was found more in the anemic children who were supplemented with iron-rich food supplement. Other research studies also documented an improvement of 1.4-10.7 percent in Hb level after supplementation (Jain, 2016;Parsad, 2016). The average total protein level was recorded as 6.8 and 6.6 g/dl in the subjects of control and experimental groups, respectively.…”

“…The levels of total protein in both groups were found at par with the standard value (6.6 g/ dl) before and after supplementation (Murray, Granner, Mayes, & Rodwell, 1998). One previous study documented an improvement of 7.8 percent in the total protein level after supplementation of ready to eat foods (Parsad, 2016) in the experimental group. The reported value was found in concordance to the percent increase recorded in the present study, that is, 10.3 percent.…”

“…A significant (p ≤ .01) increase in the levels was observed in the subjects of both groups. Likewise, Parsad (Parsad, 2016) also reported that after supplementation there was an improvement in the albumin level by 11.5 percent. But, the serum albumin levels in both groups were found below the standard value (4.3 g/dl) before as well as after supplementation (Murray et al, 1998).…”

Formulation and evaluation of a supplementary food ( Panjiri ) using wheat and flaxseed flour composites: Micronutrients, antioxidants, and heavy metals content

“…Supplementary foods act as a balanced diet for pre‐school children. Higher nutrient density, easy digestibility, suitable consistency, and affordability to the consumers make supplementary food ideal (Prasad et al., 2016). Nandy et al.…”

“…Oilseeds such as soybean, groundnut, flaxseed, and sesame seeds are utilized in the preparation of value‐added and nutritious food products. Previous studies on the development of supplementary foods using cereal–pulse mixes have been carried out by various researchers (Baskran et al., 1999; Idowu et al., 1993; Prasad et al., 2016). Gahlawat and Sehgal (1993) formulated weaning foods from locally available foods such as wheat, barley, green gram, and jaggery using roasting and malting.…”