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The objective of this study was to determine the proximate, mineral and sensory properties of noodles prepared from blends of Triticum durum (wheat), Digitaria exilis(acha), Vigna unguiculata (cowpea) flours and Moringa oleifera leaf powder (MLP). The flour samples were mixed in a four by four factorial, in complete randomized design (CRD) to formulate the composite blends at four different levels (25, 50, 75 and 100) which gave 16 samples. The flour samples were used to produce noodles and subjected to proximate, mineral and sensory analysis. Results of the proximate composition revealed that moisture content of the noodles ranged from 8.04-13.81%, ash 1.84-3.67%, fat 1.95-3.61%, crude protein 10.07-14.44%, carbohydrate 33.15-61.45%, dietary fibre 16.65-36.22% and caloric value 214.53-288.28 kJ/100 g. There was a significant increase (p < 0.05) in the moisture, ash, fat, crude protein and dietary fibre of the noodles on the substitution with cowpea flour, acha flour and MLP. Results of mineral composition also showed that sodium content ranged from 1.58-11.76 mg/100 g, potassium 26.70-40.40 mg/100 g, calcium 18.03-59.02 mg/100 g, iron 6.18-21.53 mg/100 g and phosphorus 0.51-1.54 mg/100 g. Noodle sample produced from 75% wheat and 25% cowpea flours were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in mineral content (except for potassium). Sensory evaluation results showed that cowpea and acha flours can be substituted at 25% levels with 75%, wheat flour and acha flour can as well be substituted at 50% with 50% cowpea flour while MLP at 2% with 50% wheat flour, 23% acha flour and 25% cowpea flour without significantly (p < 0.05) affected the sensory attributes of the noodles. This result therefore indicates that the use of these locally grown crops has the potential to increase the nutritional intake of consumers of this product.

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The study determined the effect of daily consumption of periwinkle on the iron status of pregnant women. One hundred and twenty pregnant women in their second trimester who were anaemic were selected from the antenatal clinic of the Bishop Shanahan Hospital, Nsukka, Nigeria. The women were randomly assigned to two groups-test group (TG) n = 60 and control group (CG) n = 60. Women in the TG consumed 50 g of periwinkle daily for six weeks with their normal diet while those in the CG consumed only the normal diet. Haemoglobin (Hb) and serum ferritin (SF) levels of the women were taken at baseline and at the end of the study. The mean Hb and SF concentrations of the pregnant women increased from 10.87 to 12.24 g dl-1 and 11.21 to 19.67 µg l-1 , respectively in the TG at the end of the study. There were no significant changes in the mean Hb (10.41 vs. 10.46 g dl-1) and SF (11.34 vs. 11.36 µg l-1) concentrations of the women in the CG.