Study on Cereal-Legume Based Complementary Foods for Infants

Abstract

Malnutrition is still public health problem in some parts of the world and causes irreversible damage at infant stage. Infants require high energy and nutrient dense foods because of their high growth velocity. Feeding fortified complementary blended foods is one of the options to treat malnourished infants. These foods are prepared with cereallegume blend, oil, sugar, vitamin/minerals and animal source protein. Complementary foods with high sugar content (> 15%) are not recommended to treat malnourished group. Animal source protein in complementary foods leads to hike in production cost. The purpose of this paper was to study the complementary foods for infants to make alternative inexpensive product formulation with low added sugar. Market survey was conducted on existing cereal-legume based foods for infants. Based on ingredients composition, products were short listed and a food formulation was selected to make an alternative. Kansas State University developed Corn-Soy blend and Sorghum-Soy blends, advanced versions in complementary foods were considered as control in this study for formulating an alternative composition. Complementary food with inexpensive plant source protein and sugar content less than 10% was recommended to meet nutrient density.

A Review: ICDS Programmes: To Develop a New Fortified Nutrient Rich Sugar Free Supplementary Food Product

“…Ragi is gluten free flour. [23] Making this product sugar free by using a natural plant-based sweetener Stevia with bulking agent erythritol which makes the product suitable for diabetic and calorie conscious humanity…”

Enrichment of food blends with bambara groundnut flour: Past, present, and future trends

“…Bambara groundnut has been widely used to improve many staples including bread, cookies, biscuits, breakfast cereal, pasta, traditional foods, cereal, and tuber flours as composites. These are cheap sources of protein for low income earners because animal protein sources result in higher cost (Siva Shankar, Alavi, Edukondalu, Joseph, & Lakshmipathy, 2018).…”

Optimising traditional nutri-diets with finger millet, sesame, moringa and bambara groundnuts inclusion for under five children

“…Malnutrition among children is unacceptable in the world with large numbers of affected children in developing countries [1]. It is a significant global issue with irreversible consequences for infants [2]. Protein energy malnutrition (PEM) is a prevalent problem, especially in regions where maize is a staple food [3].…”

“…In developed countries, complementary foods are made of staple cereal and they are of insufficient and low nutrition [1]. Fortified complementary foods from cereal-legume blends can reduce malnutrition since infants require highly nutritious foods with high energy and protein to cater for their high growth velocity [2]. In Zimbabwean households, cereals are commonly used as complementary foods for children, but they have low protein (9.4%) and micronutrient content [13].…”