Abstract:
One of the major problems associated with consumption of sorghum alone may result in microand macro-nutrient deficiencies that retard proper growth of Childs during complementary
feeding period. The use of germinated grain composite flour can improve the micro- and
macro-nutrient deficiencies. After survey on preparation of traditional complementary food
(CF) in Dawuro, sorghum-based CF enriched with chickpea and orange-fleshed sweet potato
(OFSP) in different proportion was developed; and nutritional and sensory quality of the CF
was investigated using standard methods. Sixteen formulations of the composite flours were
prepared using D-optimal constrained mixture design with the aid of Design-Expert with a
range of sorghum 40-55%, chickpea 20-35% and OFSP 10-25%. The major response
variables of nutritional composition (protein, fat, carbohydrate, energy, β-carotene, iron, zinc
and calcium, anti-nutritional factors (phytate and tannin), functional proprieties (bulk density,
water absorption capacity and sensory quality of the product were analyzed. The result showed
a significant difference (P<0.05) in fat, protein, carbohydrate, energy, calcium, phytate,
tannin, Water Absorption Capacity (WAC) and sensory attributes of the CF. The protein, fat
and energy contents of the CF (porridge) prepared from blending ratio of chickpea at rate of
35% has increased significantly (P<0.05). Porridge prepared from 20- 25% proportion of
OFSP showed significant (P<0.05) increase in β-carotene, ash and tannin content. Significant
increase was noted in phytate content in the product prepared from composite flour from
blending ratio of 40-55% sorghum. The overall optimum point of the composite flour were for
protein ranged from 11.91-13.73%, energy 380.37-393.08 kcal, β-carotene 422.54-670.46
µg/100 g, iron 4.28-7.65 mg/100 g, calcium 65.18-71.54 mg/100 g. The overall acceptability
was received hedonic rating of 3.52-4.68 on the bases of 5 scale within the range of sorghum
(40-47.5%), chickpea (30-35%) and OFSP (20-25%). Sorghum, chickpea and OFSP flour
induced significant improvement in the porridge nutritional quality and sensory attributes. The
result revealed that sorghum, chickpea and OFSP crops have good potential for implementing
vitamin A (β-carotene), protein and energy rich complementary food. Hence, using this
optimum amount of formulation can improved the nutritional composition of the sorghum
based CF. Strong attention should be given to perform further work on the promot
