Nutritional and rheological properties of swet potato based infant food and its preservation using antioxidants

Abstract

Sweet potato based infant food was developed according to micro-diet database program, 2000, Down lee Systems Limited. Two sweet potato based recipes were formulated and their nutritional properties and digestibility measured using standard analytical methods. The viscosity or consistency of a baby food was critical and was determined by measuring the rheology of the product. The oscillation technique was used to determine the elastic energy stored (G') and the energy dissipated due to viscosity (G''). The effects of antioxidants on lipid oxidation of the developed products on storage were also investigated. The recipes were compared with two commercial infant food products; Heinz baby food and cerelac®. The mean ± SD for moisture, total carbohydrate, protein, crude fat, and ash per 100 g dry weight were 8 ± 0.4, 66 ± 0.2, 20.4 ± 0.1, 2.0 ± 0.1, 3.2 ± 0.8 g, respectively for recipe A, and 8.4 ± 0.6, 58 ± 1.4, 28 ± 0.4, and 3.4 ± 0.5, 2.0 ± 0.0 g, respectively for recipe B. The in vitro digestibility for recipes A, B and commercial food (cerelac®) were 69.5 ± 0.2, 67.4 ± 0.1 and 64.9 ± 1.9% respectively. The G' values of the formulated products A, B, Heinz baby food and cerelac® on heating and cooling were 564, 492, 346, 21 Pa. The rheological characteristics of the two formulations were comparable to a commercial Heinz baby food obtained from local super market. The G' and G'' values of commercial infant food product cerelac® were very low compared with the formulated product. The results indicated that nutritional characteristics of sweet potato based products were comparable to the commercial baby food, cerelac® used in Uganda. The formulated food was within the accepted consistency (< 500 Pa) after heating and cooling and hence may be a potential complementary food. The lipid oxidation for recipe A with fish was significantly reduced by using antioxidants (500 mg Vitamin C, 500 mg Vitamin E and 100 mg of Citric acid) whereas recipe B did not need any antioxidants.

Carbohydrate composition, viscosity, solubility, and sensory acceptance of sweetpotato- and maize-based complementary foods

“…The final viscosity, measured at 25°C, could correspond to the storage viscosity of the porridge when left to cool at room temperature. The increase in apparent viscosity upon cooling observed in this study compares well with similar observation in other studies (4, 33), and may be due to the partial association or realignment of starch granules (particularly, the linear molecules, amylose, and linear parts of amylopectin molecules) to form a precipitate or a gel, a phenomenon referred to as retrogradation (2). The substantial increase in the viscosity during cooling in the enriched Weanimix indicates higher retrogradation, and it can be related to the corresponding higher starch content than the ComFa formulations.…”

A household‐level sweet potato‐based infant food to complement vitamin A supplementation initiatives

“…However, the potential of the coloured-fleshed sweet potato has not been fully exploited in terms of processing it into a dried complementary food like Weanimix to be prepared as porridge before serving to infants. Few studies have used sweet potato to prepare a cereal-like complementary food (Ameny et al 1994;Akubor 1997Akubor , 2005Ijarotimi & Ashipa 2006;Nandutu & Howell 2009). In product formulation studies, only Nandutu & Howell (2009) used the orangefleshed sweet potato variety; the others used the white-fleshed sweet potato, which is devoid of b-carotene (van Jaarsveld et al 2005).…”

“…Few studies have used sweet potato to prepare a cereal-like complementary food (Ameny et al 1994;Akubor 1997Akubor , 2005Ijarotimi & Ashipa 2006;Nandutu & Howell 2009). In product formulation studies, only Nandutu & Howell (2009) used the orangefleshed sweet potato variety; the others used the white-fleshed sweet potato, which is devoid of b-carotene (van Jaarsveld et al 2005). We investigated the possibility of developing a non-cereal based complementary food using cream-fleshed sweet potato (a variant of the orange-fleshed sweet potato) using household-level food processing technologies as a measure to improve the vitamin A content of such foods.…”

“…Few studies have used sweet potato to prepare a cereal‐like complementary food (Ameny et al . 1994; Akubor 1997, 2005; Ijarotimi & Ashipa 2006; Nandutu & Howell 2009). In product formulation studies, only Nandutu & Howell (2009) used the orange‐fleshed sweet potato variety; the others used the white‐fleshed sweet potato, which is devoid of β‐carotene (van Jaarsveld et al .…”

Textural and Gelatinization Characteristics of White, Cream, and Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato Tubers (Ipomoea BatatasL.)

“…Also, colored food products, such as flours, flakes, and pastes, can be made from these cultivars. [9,10] Being a crop that is used as human food after thermal processing, the textural properties are important quality attributes to be studied as they influence the acceptability and overall quality of the product. Depending on the mouth feel and sensory attributes, the cooked tubers can be classified into moist or yam type with soft and syrupy texture and dry type with firm and mealy texture.…”