Designing sustainable weaning foods for developing countries: not only a matter of nutrients

Abstract

Blended complementary foods from cereals and high-protein sources are used worldwide to cope with infants’ malnutrition. However, the usefulness of the food matrix during traditional processes reaches suboptimal effectiveness due to cereal gelatinization and viscosity, which reduce consumption. The interplay between nutritional and physical qualities needed for weaning children presents further significant constraints. A combination of processing methods can improve and optimize the overall product quality. This paper investigated the nutritional, functional, and anti-nutritional factors of a complementary infant porridge made by combining fermented sorghum flour with germinated bottle gourd seed flour. Overall, the combination improved the functional and physical properties of the porridge suitable for children of 10 months and over. A serving of 100 g would contribute 115–145% and 23–31% of the recommended nutritional intake of protein and energy, respectively, for low breast milk energy between 6–24 months. The results demonstrate that a combination of strategies and technologies are needed to balance nutritional and physical quality.