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Maize grains were divided into four treatment groups, namely: germinated-fermented maize (GFM), germinated non-fermented maize (GNFNM), non-germinated fermented maize (NGFM) and non-germinated non-fermented maize (NGNM). Maize and mushroom (MR) based products (GFMR, GFNMR, NGFMR and NGNMR) from all four maize grains were formulated. Germination and fermentation were investigated as methods of improving the nutritional and organoleptic properties of the formulations. Inocula recycling (use of 50% fermenting mixture as starter) resulted in a pH reduction from 5.99 to 3.30 in non-germinated products and from 5.88 to 3.29 in germinated samples during fermentation. The increase in titratable acidity (expressed as g lactic acid/100g sample) from 0.14 to 0.17 in non-germinated products and from 0.14 to 0.18 in germinated samples was not significant (p< 0.05). The crude protein values ranged from 16.0g/100g for the NGFMR to 16.3g/100g for NGNFMR product. The GNFMR had the lowest carbohydrate content (60.8g/100g) while the GFMR had the highest value of 66.0g/100g. No significant difference (p< 0.05) was obtained in the variation of the ash content between 5.2g/100g for GFMR to 5.4g/100g for GNFMR and NGFMR had the highest energy value of 340KJ/100g while the NGNFMR had the lowest (336.8 KJ/100g). Germination resulted in a significant (p<0.5) increase in digestibility. A combination of germination and fermentation further improved protein digestibility (%). The PER of the germinated and fermented product (1.87) was significantly (p<0.5) higher than that of the nongerminated non-fermented product (PER=0.82). Sensory scores for flavor ranged from 3.30 out of 7 (fair) for GFMR to 4.7 (fairly good) for GNFMR. The GNFMR was characterized as having a sweet taste while the GFMR and NGFMR were characterized as having fairly sour flavors. The appearance score of 5.20 (pleasant) for NGNFMR was significantly (p<0.05) higher compared with the other products. The product made from GNFMR had the highest score of 5.50 (like very much) while NGFMR had a value of 3.70 (neither like nor dislike) for overall acceptability. Germination and/or fermentation of maize with added mushroom have been used to formulate acceptable products which could be used as a weaning food. The addition of mushroom implies that the final products have potential for improved protein quality beneficial to its consumers.

Malting and fermentation were investigated as simple technologies for improving the nutritional and organoleptic properties of maize/sesame food formulations. Various maize flour samples were blended with defatted sesame flour, by material balancing, to give four food formulations consisting of unmalted maize + defatted sesame flour (UMS), malted maize + defatted sesame (MMS), unmalted, fermented maize + defatted sesame flour (UFMS) and malted fermented maize + defatted sesame flour (MFMS), which all contained 16g protein and 9g fat/100g food. Four diets were formulated (by material balancing with a basal diet ) from the food formulations in addition to case in (milk protein), and Nutrend (a commercial complementary food produced from maize and soybeans) to give 10g protein/ 100g of each test diets , which were used for feeding trials with Wister albino rats . The protein efficiency ratio (PER), net protein ratio (NPR), apparent digestibility (AD) and amino acid profile as well as organoleptic properties of the gruels prepared from the food formulations were evaluated. The PER values of malted and fermented products (2.16 for MMS and 2.06 for MFMS) were significantly higher (p<0.05) than those of unmalted products (1.86 for UMS and 1.59 for UFMS). The NPR and AD values followed a similar trend with 3.82 and 70.50% for UM S, 4.40 and 72.10% for MMS, 4.21 and 70.00% for UFMS and 4.47 and 71.50% for MFMS respectively. Malting and fermentation significantly (p<0.05) increased lysine content from 2.16g/16gN ( UFMS ) to 5.46g/16gN (MFMS) and tryptophan from 1.08g/16gN (UFMS) to 1.35g/16gN (MFMS). There was significant ( p < 0.05) difference in colour, taste and aroma for all the food formulations . Mean sensory scores ranged from 7.07 – 8.33 for UMS, 7.34 – 8.45 for MMS, 7.04 – 7.73 for UFMS and 6.82 – 7.74 for MFMS on a 9 – point hedonic scale. The unfermented products gave better acceptability than the fermented products in all the attributes; while the UFMS and MFMS (fermented products) did not show any significant difference in acceptability . The malted maize/sesame (MMS) blend therefore gave the best result with the highest acceptability and is therefore recommended for use as a complementary food .