NUTRITIONAL, PASTING AND SENSORY PROPERTIES OF A WEANING FOOD FROM RICE ( ORYZA SATIVA ), SOYBEANS ( GLYCINE MAX ) AND KENT MANGO ( MANGIFERA INDICA ) FLOUR BLENDS

The effective use of readily available and inexpensive sources of protein and micronutrients has become a major focus of research in recent years. This study sought to provide a nutritionally adequate and culturally acceptable weaning food for infants, as well as tap the potential of broken rice fraction as an alternative use for weaning formulation in Ghana. Flour from broken rice fractions in combination with soybeans and dried mangoes were used to develop four weaning formulations. Rice-Soy Mango (RSM) was prepared with 75% rice flour, 25% soybeans flours and 0% mango flour (RSM-0), and used as control; RSM-5 was prepared with 70% rice flour, 25% soybeans flours and 5% mango flour; RSM-10 was prepared with 65% rice flour, 25% soybeans flours and 10% mango flour while RSM-15 was prepared with 60% rice flour, 25% soybeans flours and 15% mango flour. The products were evaluated for their nutritional composition, sensory characteristics and pasting properties. All the three newly formulated rice-mango weaning food met the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) for energy (393.71-403.25 KCal/100 g), protein (10.7-15.24 g/100 g), carbohydrates (68.44-73.87g/100 g), zinc (8.67-10.84 mg/d and vitamin C (13.96-17.79 mg/100 g) levels but not for iron (3.99-7.61 mg/100 g), fat (6.22-7.61 g/100 g) and calcium (87.2-111.7 mg/100 g). The beta-carotene levels ranged from 74.8 to 346.6 μg/100 g and showed significant differences. The pasting profile for the blends with low amounts of mango (RSM-5 and RSM-10) had a similar profile as the control (RSM-0), while RSM-15 had a lower profile. Among the three newly formulated blends, RSM-10 had the highest peak viscosity (74.0 BU) and highest final viscosity of 107 BU. The RSM-5, RSM-10 and RSM-15 were all lighter than RSM-0, albeit not significant. Increasing the content of mango resulted in the flour blend becoming more yellow. Even though the sensory quality of RSM-5 was the most preferred, there was no significant difference (p>0.05) observed between the sensory quality of all the three newly formulated products (RSM-5, RSM-10, RSM-15). The RSM-10 showed great potential and may be recommended and adopted for promotion within Ghanaian households based on its high nutritional and good sensory qualities.