PROXIMATE AND SHORT-CHAIN FATTY ACID ANALYSIS OF THREE FORMULATIONS OF INFANTS DIET (OGI) FROM SPICED CEREALS-BASED LEGUMES

Adequate nutrition during infancy and early childhood is essential to ensure the growth, health, and development of children to their full potential. Poor nutrition increases the risk of illness, and is responsible, directly or indirectly, for one third of the estimated 9.5 million deaths that occurred in 2006 in children less than 5 years of age. Sources: World Health organization. Food components in infant diet provide not only necessary nutrients to their body but also substrates for the mutualistic microbial flora in their gastrointestinal tract, termed the gut microbiome which is the major source of short chain fatty acids. It has been studied that complementary feeding impacts infant gut microbiota composition. This study therefore focused on the nutritional and short chain fatty acid analysis in infant diets formulated from spiced cereal based legumes. The ingredients of this formulation which include the cereals; yellow maize, millets; the legume, African yam beans, and the spices; ginger, alligator pepper, turmeric, neggro pepper, were sorted and the damaged ones were removed. They were then milled to obtain the infant diet which serves as a complementary food. Complementary foods are foods introduced to infants when breast milk is no longer sufficient to meet their nutritional requirement. Based on evidence of the effectiveness of interventions, appropriate complementary feeding practices would result in reduction in under-five mortality. The formulations were separated into 3 samples namely; sample A1, sample B1, sample C3. They were then subjected to proximate, and short chain fatty acid analysis. The samples were prepared into slurry form with boiled water and then subjected to sensory analysis. The results obtained from all the analysis were then subjected to statistical analysis.