Chemical Formulation and Characterization of Complementary Foods from Blend of Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato, Brown Teff, and Dark Red Kidney Beans

Consumption of nutritionally inadequate diets results in infant malnutrition. This study is aimed at formulating complementary foods from blend of orange-fleshed sweet potato, brown teff, and dark red kidney beans for infants aged 6-23 months. The Design-Expert 6.0.8 Software was used to formulate flour blends. Proximate, mineral, and antinutrient characterizations of flour blends were determined by using standard methods. The crude protein, crude fat, carbohydrate, and energy contents of raw flour blends were varied from 4.90-14.25%, 1.63-1.99%, 67.10-76.29%, and 339.07-343.63 Kcal/100 g, respectively. The crude protein, crude fat, carbohydrate, and energy contents of extruded blends were varied from 3.65-12.41%, 0.16-0.31%, 72.66-83.96%, and 343.07-356.74 Kcal/100 g, respectively. The crude protein, crude fat, carbohydrate, and energy contents of drum-dried blends were varied from 4.45-14.08%, 1.21-1.70%, 69.30-80.45%, and 347.20-356.57 Kcal/100 g, respectively. The products meet the recommended daily intake of protein (5.2-10.9 g), carbohydrate (≥65 g), energy (202-894 Kcal), and potassium (60-160 mg) for infants. However, the products are in short of meeting some of the recommendations given by international standards regarding daily intake of fats and minerals. Therefore, it requires some enhancement by including studied amount of butter and other micronutrient dense foodstuffs.