Potential and Safety of Complementary Foods Developed from Selected Cereals and Legumes Cultivated in Gondar Province, Ethiopia to Alleviate Protein-Energy Malnutrition

Abstract

In a bid to address the challenge of childhood malnutrition caused by poor complementary feeding, this study was aimed to formulate accessible complementary foods from selected cereals and legumes. Evaluation of the foods was then done haematologically, biochemically and nutritionally using white albino rats. Four multimix complementary foods were prepared from selected local foods that comprised red teff (Eragrostis tef (Zucc.), maize (Zea maize), barley (Hordeum vulgare), wheat (Triticum aestivum), oat (Avena sativa), chickpea (Cicer arietinum), pea (Pisum sativum), beans (Vicia faba), soya beans (Glycine max), sesame (Sesamum indicum) and spinach (Spinacia oleracea). The four complementary blends were formulated based on the protein and energy of the commodities. The formulated diets were subjected to chemical analysis-along with a commonly used commercial formula (Cerifam) as a control. This is usually used as a complementary food in Ethiopia. Standard official procedures (AOAC) were used to determine the macronutrient composition of the developed diets and ingredients. High-performance liquid chromatography was used to detect and quantify anti-nutritional factors and some of the vitamins, while minerals were analyzed using an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The nutritional qualities of the formulated blends were assessed biologically by feeding white albino rats in order to determine feed intake, the growth rate, protein quality parameters, biochemical and haematological properties. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to establish any significant difference in the analytical data for the formulated and control mixtures using SPSS Version 20. The overall proximate results indicate that protein content was ranged between12.20 to17.14%. While fat and carbohydrate values were in the range of 2.44 to 38.88% and 35.29 to 73.41%, respectively. The crude protein, fat and energy values of all blended foods were statistically (p= 0.02) higher compared to the control value and met the recommended dietary allowance for protein, energy and micronutrients of public health concern including zinc, iron and vitamin A based on an estimated daily intake of 65 g of the foods for 6-12 month infant. All sample diets had antinutrient/mineral molar ratio below the cutoff values, hence, mineral absorption was not inhibited in the formulated diets. Rats placed on Diet 3, Diet 4, casein, and Cerifam consumed more food than those fed on Diet 1, Diet 2, and Diet 7. The higher food intake in Diet 3 and Diet 4 might be attributed to the improved flavor and palatability due to the presence of aromatic amino acids. The mean growth rate of rats fed on Diet 3 and Diet 4 was significantly (p=0.04) higher than that of those placed on Diet 1, Diet 2 but similar to those fed with commercial diet and casein. The protein quality evaluation of the diets showed that the protein efficiency ratio ranged from 1.20 to 2.43 while the biological value was in the range of 54.53 to 69.48%. The net protein utilization and true digestibility ranged from 65.62 to 70.21% and 59.01 to 64.01%, respectively. Serum total protein, albumin, and globulin levels in rats given Diet 3 and Diet 4 were comparable to the controls and within the normal range. The creatinine and urea levels of rats fed on the control and formulated mixtures were also the normal range (0.2-0.8 and 7-20 mg/dL) respectively. The serum alanine aminotransferase values of rats fed on the control and formulated foods ranged from 22.03 IU/L in Diet 2 to 37.76 IU/L in Diet 4 and were not significantly different from each other. In this study, the packed cell volume and haemoglobin values of the control and formulated foods were within the recommended range. Evidently, Diet 3 and Diet 4 gave the best growth performance after the feeding trials. Better growth performance attained by rats fed on Diet 3 and Diet 4 may be attributed to the inclusion of chickpea and soybeans that contains high quality protein that is not found in cereals. In conclusion, the growth response and protein quality (PER, BV, NPU, TD) evaluation revealed that these diets were nutritious enough and comparable to standard casein and commercially available baby food (Cerifam). Besides, absence of toxic substances in these diets, as evidenced by liver function tests, biochemical and haematological findings, could also reveal that the diets could provide adequate nutrients and support higher growth rates in infants without causing any harmful effects.