Proximate and Nutrient Levels of Fortification Maize-Black-eyed Beans Pudding with Orange-fleshed Sweet Potato

Abstract

Bio-fortification enhances the nutritional content of food crops, addressing micronutrient deficiencies and improving public health. Agile processing techniques optimize nutrient retention, texture, and flavor in food products, allowing for flexibility and rapid development. This research develops a nutrient-dense pudding from maize, black-eyed beans, and orange flesh sweet potato (OFSP) using Agile processing techniques. The puddings were prepared from yellow maize, black-eyed beans and orange sweet potato flours. A total of ten samples with different ratios (100:0:0; 90:5:5; 80:15:5; 85:5:10; 70:25:5; 85:10:5; 65:25:5; 60:35:5; 80:10:10; 75:20:5) were generated using completely randomized design. Proximate composition protein, fat, crude fibre, ash and carbohydrate contents of the samples showed significant (p≤0.05) differences ranging from 12.62% to 3.20%, 56.57% to 65.95%, 12.62% to 14.74%, and 6.26% to 8.74%, respectively. Mineral composition potassium, magnesium, calcium and iron contents of the samples showed significant (p≤0.05) differences ranging from0.75mg/100g to 2.94 mg/100g, 0.56mg/100g to 0.84 mg/100g, 0.45mg/100g to 2.08 mg/100gand 2.65mg/100g to 3.86 mg/100g, respectively. Vitamin composition evaluated pro-vitamin A and Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) showed significant (p≤0.05) differences ranging from 218.6 μ/100g to 2856.7 μ/100g and 3.15 μ/100g to 4.59 μ/100g. The study showed that bio-fortification of maize-black-eyed pudding with orange-fleshed sweet potato for nutrient enhancement through agile processing yielded nutrient-dense pudding that is rich in proximate, mineral and vitamin composition. The proximate composition of the pudding samples showed that the sample H, containing 60% maize, 35% black-eyed beans and 5% orange-fleshed sweet potato flour blend, had the highest value of protein, fat, crude fibre and ash. The sample I (80% Maize flour: 10% black-eyed beans flour and 10% Orange fleshed sweet potato seed flour pudding) had the highest content of provitamin A, which could be recommended for enhanced nutrition.