Development Of Rice- Cowpea Complementary Foods Fortified Pre Fermentation Using Foods Rich In Calcium, Iron, Zinc And Β-Carotene.

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the effect of pre-fermentation incorporation of a multi –mixture of processed cattle bone, rosella calyces and red palm oil on the calcium, iron, zinc and β-carotene of a formulated rice-cowpea complementary food processed by fermentation and malting. The processed fortificants (Roselle calyces: cattle bone:  red palm oil) were mixed in the ratio of 1.7:1:2.24 on weight basis and then mixed with the rice-cowpea flour blends in a 1:2.1weight/weight (W/W) ratio before fermentation for 72 hours. The crude protein values (g/100g) of the samples ranged between 18.21g/100g in rice – dehulled cowpea (RC) to 19.96g for rice- cowpea fortified with bone (RC_m)_t.  Crude fat was found to be generally low in all the samples. Calcium , zinc and iron (73-108, 6- 7, 0.88- 1.9 0mg/100g) values for rice-cowpea fermented by and rice-cowpea malt fermented were lower than the values of calcium, zinc and  iron (429- 469, 14-25, 12-15mg/100g);  rice/malted cowpea fortified with bone, Roselle calyces and  red palm oil emulsified with potash ((RC_m)_t). The β-carotene content (µg/100g) of the fortified samples were observed to be significantly higher (489.26 - 689 µg/100g) than those of unfortified samples (85.20 – 99.64 µg/100g). The oxalate values of the blends ranged between 60.70 to 78.24mg/100g with RC having the highest (78.24mg/100g) oxalate content and (RC_m)_f the least (60.70mg/100g). The score for general acceptability of the formulated samples were significantly different from each other.  The order of scores for the general acceptability is as follows: Nutrend> (RC)_m>(RC)_t>(RC)_f. with the control having the highest score for general acceptability.