Nutritional and Sensory Characteristics of an Infant Food Based on Soybean Seeds (Glycine max) and Tigernut Tubers (Cyperus esculenta)

Aims: To evaluate the nutritional and sensory characteristics of soybean and tigernut based infant food that could be adoptable at house-hold level by rural dwellers.
Study Design: Randomized design.
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Biochemistry, University of Calabar, between January 2009 and 2010.
Methodology: Soybean seeds were washed, soaked overnight, cooked, dehulled, dried and milled into flour to pass a 300µm sieve. Tigernut tubers were washed, soaked for 96h, dried and milled into flour (300µm). Three weaning foods; STF1 (Tigernut: 75%; soybean: 15%); STF2 (Tigernut: 65%; Soybean: 25%); STF3 (Tigernut: 55%; Soybean: 35%) with 10% full cream powdered milk (FCM) each were prepared to yield formulated weaning food (FWD). Samples were assayed for proximate, energy, pH, mineral and organoleptic qualities. The control was a commercial brand based on maize, soybean, FCM and additives.
Results: Proximate, energy and mineral contents of the samples were different (P<0.05). FWDs contained higher (P<0.05) amounts of protein, ash, fat, fiber, energy and mineral contents than the control. STF3 recorded higher (P<0.05) ash, protein, fiber, calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron and zinc. Among the FWDs, STF3 had higher (P<0.05) panelists ratings for all the sensory attributes and it compared favorably with the control. STF3 was rated higher (P<0.05) for overall acceptability compared to the control. The result suggested that STF3 hold a potential promise for the delivery of cheap nutrient dense infant food for low income house-holds.
Conclusion: The potential suitability of tigernut flour in weaning food formulation was shown in this study. Although all the formulated diets met the benchmark for infant food, taking into consideration the dietary profile and sensorial ratings, STF3 (Tigernut 55%; Soybean 35%, 10% milk) was found to be the most promising formulation. This indicates that underutilized tigernut tubers could be exploited to produce adoptable household cheap weaning food with soybean that can compare favorably with commercial brand. This could be a sustainable way of curbing malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa.