Abstract:
Malnutrition of varying degrees has been associated with feeding infants with unwholesome and poor quality weaning foods. Therefore, the nutritional evaluation of maize-based complementary food enriched with fermented and germinated Moringa oleifera seed flour was investigated. The Moringa oleifera seeds used were subjected to fermentation and germination processes using standard processing methods while the maize grains were fermented for the production of “ogi” flour. The proximate, antinutritional, mineral and functional properties of the formulated complementary food were determined. The nutritional evaluation of the diet was also assessed using standard procedures. The results of the proximate composition of the diet showed that crude protein content of the complementary diets differed significantly and the value ranged from 15.27 to 17.00% while the energy value ranged from 386.28 to 395.01 kcal. Phytate content of the sample ranged from 0.09 to 0.36 mg/g and the trypsin inhibitor value was 0.05 to 2.30 tiu/mg. The predominant mineral elements are sodium and phosphorus whose values ranged from 58.60 to 67.85 mg/100g and 57.58 to 68.58 mg/100g respectively. Other mineral elements found in least amount are copper and manganese and the values ranged from 12.46 to 25.38 mg/100g and 0.76 to 0.94 mg/100g. The loosed and packed bulk densities of the diet ranged from 0.54 to 0.57 g/ml and 0.62 to 0.72 g/ml while the water and oil absorption capacities of the samples were 179.00 to 194.00% and 140.00 to 150.00% respectively. The haematological indices showed that the packed cell volume of the sample ranged from 36.67 to 40.33% and the red blood cell counts was 5.00 to 5.93 (×106 mm3). The protein quality evaluation of the diets showed that the protein efficiency ratio ranged from 2.10 to 2.38 while the protein rating was 35.42 to 48.61. The relative weight of organs of the rats fed with the complementary diets showed that the weights of the kidney and liver ranged from 0.57 to 0.76g and 2.87 to 3.58g respectively. The growth performance of the rats fed with the formulated complementary diets showed that the formulated diets contributed to the growth status of the animals indicating that protein quality of the diets could be to support the growth and development of the infants. The histological findings showed that the diet contains no toxic compound as indicated in the analysis of selected organs of the rats fed with the diets. In conclusion, this study established that fermented moringa oleifera seed flour inclusion into ogi improved the nutritional quality as well as safety of the formulated complementary food
