ABSTRACT

 Complementary feeding is defined as the process starting when breast milk alone is no longer sufficient to meet the nutritional requirement of infants, and therefore other foods and liquids are needed, along with breast milk. This study evaluated the chemical and sensory attributes of complementary food formulated from a blend of soybean, millet, groundnut and crayfish. The millet, groundnut, soybean and crayfish were purchased from Ubani main market Umuahia, Abia state. The respective food materials were processed into flour using standard methods. The processed flour were used to formulate the complementary food into the following samples, sample 102 which consisted of 35% millet, 25% soybean, 30% groundnut, sample 103 comprised 30% millet, 35% soybean, and 25% groundnut, sample 104 consisted of 30% millet, 40% soybean and 20% groundnut and sample 105 consisted of 40% millet, 35% soybean and 15% groundnut while all the experimental samples were fortified with 10% crayfish each. The proximate, vitamins, minerals and anti-nutrients were analyzed using standard methods, while the sensory attributes were determined using a 9-point hedonic scale. The result showed that for proximate composition, sample 103 recorded the highest protein content of 31.83%, sample 104 recorded the highest fat content of 14.34%, sample 102 had the highest dietary fiber content of 8.04%, and sample 103 recorded the highest ash content (4.83%) while sample 105 had the highest carbohydrate content (38.45%). For vitamins, sample 103 had higher pro-vitamin A value of 38.27 pg/100g, sample 102 recorded higher thiamin and niacin (3.42 mg/lOOg and 6.50 mg/lOOg, respectively) while sample 104 recorded higher vitamin K content (3.49 mg/lOOg). The result for minerals showed that sample 104 had higher calcium content (36.04 mg/lOOg), sample 102 had highest magnesium (36.45 mg/lOOg), phosphorus (30.91 mg/lOOg) and zinc (2.68 mg/lOOg) contents while sample 105 had highest iron content (5.56 mg/lOOg). For anti-nutritional content, sample 104 and 105 recorded the least phytate (0.47%), sample 102 recorded the least saponin (0.33%) and tannin (0.34%). Finally, the sensory evaluation showed that sample 102 had the best colour, taste, texture, mouth feel, flavor and general acceptability. Therefore it can be concluded that the food material used in this study can be a good blend for production of complementary food for infants as it contained the essential nutrients.