SORGHUM – OGI PLANTAIN FLOUR FOOD BLEND: AN ALTERNATIVE WEANING FOOD FOR NEAONATES

摘要

The inability of some parents to afford the commercial weaning foods has led to an increase in case of malnutrition. This is predominant in babies that have reached the weaning stage. This work focused on the utilization of plantain (Musa spp., ABB genome) flour for enhancing the nutritive value of Sorghum-Ogi food, which is one of the stable foods used as weaning food in Nigeria. The study was carried out using the same quantity of Sorghum-Ogi (100%) with increasing quantity of plantain flour (20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% weight per weight). The proximate analysis, functional properties, pasting properties, organoleptic evaluation and microbial load of the food blends were determined. The result indicated that there was an increase in fat content with increased addition of plantain flour. The microbial load of the blend indicated that the food blends were safe for consumption. The inclusion of plantain showed a high acceptance value up to 60% plantain flour for the organoleptic evaluation. In summary, the nutritional indices analyzed indicated that increasing level of addition of plantain flour up to 60% level is an optimum and good nutritional weaning food for babies and this will solve food security issues in children.