ABSTRACT

 Infant complementary food consisting mainly of un-supplemented cereal pap made from maize, sorghum or millet is grossly inadequate in protein, vitamin and minerals. Hence, there is need to fortify them with micronutrients and legumes so as to improve their nutrient density. In this study, local rice, cowpea and carrot flour blends were used to develop ready-to-eat complementary food. The complementary gruel from Six different blends were formulated in the ratio oftoasted rice: cowpea: carrot (70:20:10), untoasted rice: cowpea: carrot (70:20:10), toasted rice: cowpea: carrot (80:15:5), untoasted rice: cowpea: carrot (80:15:5) toasted rice: cowpea (80:20), untoasted rice: cowpea (80:20). Cerelac served as the control. The blends were mixed with 500ml of water boiled at 100°c. The Proximate, minerals, vitamins and phytochemical properties of the gruels were assessed using the standard procedures.Sensory evaluation ofthe gruels was carried out using a 9- point hedonic scale. The products were also subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS version (23.0), level of significant difference was accepted at (p<0.05).The chemical and sensory properties were compared to those of cerelac. From the result obtained, cerelac had the highest values ash (1.48%), protein (5.77%), fibre (1.04%), and energy (129.96Kcal)per 100g but had the least carbohydrate value (3.81%) while the gruel from untoasted rice: cowpea: carrot (70:20:10) had the highest carbohydrate value. For mineral content, cerelac recorded the highest values in magnesium (15:82mg/100g), phosphorus (47.25mg/100g), copper (6.29mg/100g) and iodine (7.42mg/100g) while the gruel from toasted rice: cowpea: carrot (80:15:5) recorded the highest mineral values in sodium (103.32mg/100g)5 potassium (270.71mg/100g), selenium (0.34mg/100g) and zinc (5.41mg/100g). For vitamins, cerelac was higher in vitamins Bi (0.60mg/100g), B2 (0.64mg/100g) and vitamin C (20.63mg/100g) while the gruel from toasted rice: cowpea: carrot (70:20:10) was higher than cerelac in Beta-carotene and vitamin E. The phytochemicals assessed in all the blends were below 1% and all the phytochemicals except flavonoid were detected in cerelac. In sensory attributes, cerelac was better accepted but the gruels from toasted rice: cowpea: carrot (70:20:10) was richer than cerelac in Beta-carotene (3800mcg/100g) and vitamin E (3.47mg/100g) while the gruel from toasted rice: cowpea: carrot (80:15:5) was also richer than cerelac in zinc.