Weaning is a gradual process of introducing solids foods to an infant's diet, alongside breast milk from the age of six months, since the breast feeding along cannot meet the infant nutritional requirement. in this study three composite foods were prepared from rice and some legumes (roasted soybean, roasted peanut and roasted chickpeas) ratio 70:30. The formulations were made to meet the greatest amino acid scores, the desired amount of energy and protein according to the FAO/WHO recommendation for infants. Concentrations of energy, protein, amino acid, phytates, trypsin inhibitor, tannins and protein digestibility were determined by standard methods. The proximate chemical composition results indicated that the moisture (10.01% to 11.77%), as water was added during cooking, protein (7.90% to 10.70%), ash (0.99% to 4.52%) crude fiber (0.91% to 1.04%), energy (344.3 kcal/100g to 400.3kcal/100g), fats (0.88% to 11.82%) and carbohydrates were (61.99% to 74.0%). the levels of protein in blends of weaning food were higher than the control. the results of antinutrition factors ranges phytic acid (3.90 to 4.52mg/100g), trypsin inhibitor (0.39 to 0.47 tiu/mg) and tannins (17.12 to 19.50 mg/100g). heat processing and cooking of the blends resulted in low levels of anti-nutrition and higher in vitro protein digestibility ranged from(83.30 to 87.59 %) of the weaning food blends respectively. the result of the sensory evaluation showd that the best blend was contained rice/peanut and rice/ chickpeas but rice/ soybean was low in the acceptability. this study recommends that mix cereals with legumes to achieve complementation of amino acids and consequent improvement in protein quality.

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of various cooking methods on antioxidant content and radical scavenging activity of pumpkin. Three heat treatments were applied, namely,blanching, and stir frying for cubes(1.5×1.5×1.5 cm) and roasting for slices (0.5mm) to produce soup, juice and roasted pumpkin. The results indicated that carotenoids content ranged between 11,07 IU/100g (soup) and 892 IU/100g (juice).Roasted product exhibited significantly (P≤0.05) the least flavoniod content (12.09g/kg), while soup possessed significantly (P≤0.05) the highest content(17.96 g/Kg). Lycopene content (0.15 mg/100g) was found to be significantly(P≤0.05)the least (in soup produced from cubes blanched for 4 mins). In contrast, the counterpart raw juice had significantly (P≤0.05) the highest lycopene content (0.70mg /100g). Total polyphenols content of stir fried product was significantly (P≤0.05) the least(406.25 g/kg), while roasted product exhibited significantly (P≤0.05) the highest polyphenols content (670.18g/ kg). It was obvious that raw juice possessed significantly (P≤0.05) the highest DPPH (63.79%), on contrary to roasted product being significantly (P≤0.05) the least antioxidant activity as assessed by DPPH method (30.31 %).The H 2 O 2 scavenging (2.85 %) was found to be significantly (P≤0.05) the highest ( in soup produced from cubes blanched for 4 min) .While, the raw juice has significantly(P≤0.05)the least H 2 O 2 scavenging (0.32%).So, It is necessary to apply the most proper cooking conditions (temperature and cooking time) to avoid any degradation of the bioactive compounds present in pumpkin. The results revealed the superiority of blanching process since it maintained the bioactive compounds in pumpkin without any deteriorative effects.

This study aimed to identifying the housewives' knowledge and practices about prickly pear peels, their benefits, recycling and reusing in the fortification of some food products (cakes and biscuits). The main study participants comprised 100 housewives . The study utilized a questionnaire of the housewives' knowledge and practices about the prickly pears peels. Prickly pear peels were added to cakes and biscuits at 5,10 and 15%. The results of the study revealed a decreased level of knowledge and practices of prickly pear peels among the study participants. There was a correlation between the level of knowledge and practices of participants regarding prickly pears and their peels as well as with some social and economic characteristics (age group -educational statusmonthly income). A statistically significant difference was found between the study participants according to their age group in favor of those who are over 45 years old, in both knowledge and practices measures. The results also yielded statistically significant differences in favor of participants with university degrees and high monthly income of more than 4000 pounds, as well as in favor of those who live in urban areas and who works in both aspects, i.e. knowledge and practices. In addition, the experimental study results revealed that the prickly pear peels contain moisture, protein, fats, ash, carbohydrates, calories and dietary fiber at rates with 7.50%, 4.45%, 3.54%, 8.20%, 76.31% and 35.88%, respectively. The results also showed that the prickly pear peel is rich in total phenols, carotenoids and antioxidant activity. The results revealed an improvement in the nutritional value of the products prepared from prickly pear peels. The study recommended the necessity of increasing the knowledge and practices of housewives about the use of prickly pear peels by all available means.

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Weaning is a gradual process of introducing solid foods to infant's diet, alongside breast milk from the age of six months, since the breast feeding along cannot meet the infant nutritional requirement. This study aims to prepared high quality weaning foods from locally available raw materials at low cost. Weaning food was produced from the blends of yellow maize flour with some legumes (soybean, chickpeas and peanut). blends were prepared in a mixed ratio 70:30 using traditional techniques like milling, roasting and drying were evaluated. In samples, chemical composition, anti-nutritional factors, protein digestibility, amino acid content and sensory evaluation were determined. Results showed that the formulated weaning food. The maize used in this experiment were yellow maize of local variety. The results revealed that, the protein content ranged from 12.26%-17.68% of the weaning food blends from yellow maize is similarly close to the recommended daily intake for infants (6 month to 2 year) compared to the raw maize without legumes. The low moisture contents (4.10%), (4.89 %) and 4.72% in maize/ soybean, maize/chickpea and maize/peanut exhibited by the weaning food blends might give a good storage stability. The results of anti-nutrition factors ranges phytic acid (4.81 mg/100 g-6.25 mg/100 g), Trypsin inhibitor (0.46 TIU/100 g-0.52 TIU/100 g) and tannins (55.75 mg/100 g-63.89 mg /100 g) Heat treatment of grains resulted in low levels of phytic acid and higher in vitro protein digestibility ranged from 75.43% to 81.76% of the weaning feed mixtures,. Results on sensory evaluation showed that the best blend was contained maize/chickpeas then maize peanut but maize soybean and control lower acceptability.