Nutritional value enhancement of maize porridge with a blend of malted millet and egg powder

Abstract

Malnutrition is defined by the Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition (IMAM) guidelines as the excesses or deficiency of nutrients essential for growth of individuals. It exists in two forms, that is over nutrition and under-nutrition. Under-nutrition results into wasting which is one of the leading causes of death in Uganda, mainly because it results in vulnerability to opportunistic infections due to immune system impairments. It leads to progression of diseases like Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) among individuals living with the virus. Inadequate nutrient intake in Uganda is related to limited access to interventions meant to improve nutrition knowledge, reduce wasting and utilize available resources that are cheap and easy to acquire. Application of technologies to enhance nutritional value of locally available foods has potential to contribute to improved nutrition. Malting of millet and blending staples with nutrient rich foods like eggs can be used to produce nutritious porridge that can be used for feeding nutritionally vulnerable segments of the population, like children living with HIV. This study sought to develop a malted millet and egg powder blend suitable for use in enhancing energy and protein content of maize porridge, a commonly consumed food in Uganda. Millet and egg powder were mixed in equal amounts and added to maize in different proportions (0, 20, 30 and 40%). Porridges were made in the ratio of 1:12(w/v), where 50g of flour was mixed with 600ml of water. This blend was added to the porridge 5 mins to the end of cooking. The flours and resulting porridges were analyzed using standard methods for ash, moisture, fiber, protein, carbohydrate, fat and total energy; viscosity and sensory acceptance. The flours ash, moisture, fiber, protein, carbohydrate, fat and total energy content was found to be 0.80 to 1.17%, 9.86 to 81.69%, 1.25 to 1.7%, 5.09 to 15.09%,62.00 to 81.69%, 1.31 to 8.82% and 358.91 to 387.71 kcal respectively. The viscosities of the resulting porridges were found to reduce with increase in millet-egg powder blend added. All samples scored overall acceptability greater than 6.0, on a 9- point hedonic scale, except 60% maize (5.30), showing that the porridges were acceptable. The results of this study show that in-corporation of malted millet and egg powder in maize porridge increases the nutrient content while lowering the viscosity, allowing for use of more flour during cooking.