Micronutrients in African Yam Bean-carrot Flours and Acceptability of Its Gruels for Complementary Food

Aims: To explore the benefits of the African Yam Bean (AYB) and carrot composite flour blend for combating the problem of micronutrient deficiency in Nigeria.

Place and Duration of Study: Chemistry Department, Benue State University, Makurdi and Advance Animal Science Laboratory, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria, between December, 2017 and April, 2018.

Methodology: Production was done in three stages: first, AYB was processed into flour, carrots into powder and finally the blend formulation of the AYB and Carrot composites was prepared by material balancing in the ratio of 100:0, 80:20, 70:30, 50:50 and 0:100. Chemical and micronutrient evaluation was then carried out. Standard procedures of AOAC were then used to analyse the micronutrients in the samples and the sensory qualities of the gruel was evaluated using nine-point hedonic scale. The data were subjected to one way ANOVA and Duncan Multiple Range Test to detect the significant differences.

Results: The results obtained shows that beta carotene (vitamin A precursor), thiamine, vitamin B2, B6, and B12 content of formulations increased in the range from 10.26±0.04 - 102.19±0.00, 0.19±0.01 - 0.22±0.00, 0.05±0.00 - 0.95±0.01, 4.68±0.01 - 15.39±0.01 respectively with addition of carrot powder in a blend. The calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium and sodium content of the flours ranged from 10.51±0.01 - 39.16±0.05, 1.26±0.01 - 10.94±0.02, 407.94±0.06 - 90.69±0.01, 49.24±0.03 - 70.33±0.00 and 86.23±0.02 - 106.31±0.02 respectively. The products were moderately liked by the panellist with the least sample 70:30 liked slightly.

Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that these composite flour blends could be considered as an alternative source for formulating products with high acceptability and micronutrient content especially vitamin A. However, the biological value of this composite flour needs to be known and reconciled with chemical composition before it could effectively be used in weaning children.