Nutritional Characteristics of Maize-based Complementary Food Enriched with Fermented and Germinated Moringa Oleifera Seed Flour

Malnutrition of varying degrees has been associated with feeding infants with unwholesome and poor quality weaning foods. Therefore, the nutritional characteristics of maize-based complementary food enriched with fermented and germinated Moringa oleifera seed flour was investigated. The Moringa oleifera seeds were fermented and germinated using standard processing methods while the maize grains were fermented for the production of “ogi” flour. The proximate, antinutritional, mineral and functional properties of the formulated complementary food were determined. The results of the proximate composition of the diet showed that crude protein content of the complementary diets differed significantly (p< 0.05) and the value ranged from 15.27 to 17.00 % while the energy value ranged from 386.28 to 395.01 kcal. Phytate content of the sample ranged from 0.09 to 0.36 mg/g and the trypsin inhibitor value was 0.05 to 2.30 tiu/mg. The predominant mineral elements are sodium and phosphorus whose values ranged from 58.60 to 67.85 mg/100g and 57.58 to 68.58 mg/100g respectively. Other mineral elements found in least amount are copper and manganese and the values ranged from 12.46 to 25.38 mg/100g and 0.76 to 0.94 mg/100g respectively. The loosed and packed bulk densities of the diet ranged from 0.54 to 0.57 g/ml and 0.62 to 0.72 g/ml while the water and oil absorption capacities of the samples were 179.00 to 194.00 % and 140.00 to 150.00 % respectively. The study established that fermented-ogi moringa seed flour was more nutritious in terms of the nutrient composition than the raw-ogi moringa seed and germinated-ogi moringa seed flours and it also compared favorably with commercial diet.