Chemical Composition, Functional, Microbiological and Sensory Qualities of Locally Produced Complementary Food from Rizgah (Plectranthus esculentus), Baobab Fruit Powder (Adansonia digitata), Soybean (Glycine max) and Crayfish (Cambarus Sp) Flour Blends

Abstract

Production of complementary food using locally available underutilized materials has become of necessity to overcome the economic effects on importation. This research examined the chemical composition, functional, microbial and sensory qualities of complementary food produced from Rizgah (Plectranthus esculentus), baobab fruit powder (Adansonia digitata), soybean (Glycine max) and crayfish(Cambarus Sp) flour blend. The raw materials used were purchased, processed into flour and mixed in varied proportions of Rizgah: baobab: soybean:cray fish flour(100:0:0:0; 85:10:5:0; 75:15:10:0;70:15:10:;60:20:15:5;55:20:15:10) to produce complementary foods and analyzed for chemical, microbial and sensory qualities. The ash, crude protein, crude fat and crude fibre increased from 9.34 to 16.77, 4.93 to 9.28, 9.48 to 11.50 and 1.57 to 3.53%, respectively, while the moisture and carbohydrates content decreased from 9.42 to 7.77 and 65.38 to 53.71%, respectively with reduction in the added Rizgah flour (100 to 55%). The bulk density decreased from 0.34 to 0.28g/cm3, while the swelling, oil absorption and water absorption capacity decreased from 85.25-66.10%, 25.50-17.50% and 57.50-45.50%, respectively. The vitamin C, vitamin B1 and vitamin B6 increased from 5.7 to 7.50(mg/100g), 0.64 to 3.00(mg/100g) and 0.58 to 1.75(mg/100g), respectively, with increase in the soybean, baobab powder and crayfish. The total coliform count, total heterotrophic bacterial count and total heterotrophic fungi count decreased from 2.8×10-2 to 1.5×10-2, 7.5×10-5 to 2.3×10-5 and 3.1×10-3 to 1.8×10-3, respectively, with decrease in the added Rizgah (100% to 55%). The mineral content of the sample increased from 0.29 to 0.90mg/100g for iron, 0.01 to 0.047mg/100g for sodium, 1.68 to 71.88mg/100g for calcium, 8.19 to 12.50mg/100g for magnesium and 0.96 to 2.75mg/100g for phosphorus with increase in the quantity of crayfish.The anti nutrient content of the sample varied from 5.90 to 5.81mg/100g for tannin, 5.46 to 13.60mg/100g for phytate, 7.81 to 10.91mg/100g for trypsin, 0.82 to 2.04mg/100g for oxalate. The relative increase observed for the anti nutrient content could be due to the added soybean flour. The average mean scores for aroma, colour, texture, taste, and overall acceptability of the complementary food samples varied from 3.50 to 3.60, 3.50 to 3.60, 3.50 to 3.40, 3.70 to 3.50 and 3.10 to 3.40 respectively, the relative increase in the average means score of sensory quality could be attributed to the added crayfish. This study has shown that relatively high quality and safe complementary food can be produced from Rizgah flour with addition of soybean, baobab and cray fish.