Formulation and quality evaluation of complementary food made from orange-fleshed sweet potato major component

Introduction of appropriate complementary foods after 6months of life of infants is very important for optimum growth and prevention of malnutrition. This study formulated four samples containing varying proportions of orange fleshed sweet potato, acha grain, soybean and groundnut including sample A (60:10:25:5), sample B (60:10:20:10), sample C (55:15:25:5) and sample D (50:20:20:10). Chemical analysis of the samples was done according to the official method of analysis described by the Association of Official Analytical Chemist (AOAC) while sensory evaluation was done using a 5-point hedonic scale. All analysis was carried out in triplicate and the generated data was analyzed with ANOVA to compare different variables using IBM SPSS statistics version 20. The results revealed that sample A had the highest amount of carbohydrate, fat and crude fibre while sample D had the lowest ash content. Sample B had the highest content of calcium (36.39 mg/100g) and magnesium (62.25/100 g) while highest amount of potassium, iron, zinc and beta carotene were recorded in sample A. There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in the carbohydrate, potassium and zinc contents of the food samples but significant differences existed for other nutrients. The microbial load of the samples was low (0.00 to 0.01 cfu/g). Sample C had the highest overall acceptability (4.00) for sensory evaluation. Incorporating orange flesh sweet potato into complementary food can help to prevent vitamin A deficiency which is prevalent among infants and pre-school children in Nigeria.