IN-VIVO NUTRITIONAL QUALITIES, BIOCHEMICAL, HEMATOLOGICAL, MICROBIAL AND ORGANOLEPTIC PROPERTIES OF FORMULATED READY-TO-USE THERAPEUTIC FOODS FOR MANAGEMENT OF SEVERE ACUTE MALNUTRITION

Abstract

In Nigeria, factors such as high cost of living, insecurities in some region in the country, inflation, feeding practices, poverty rate have exacerbated Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). This study aimed to formulate and assess the in-vivo nutritional properties, biochemical, hematological, microbial and organoleptic properties of formulated therapeutic foods for the management of severe acute malnutrition. The food materials were bought locally, milled into flour and formulated into ready-to-use- therapeutic food (RUTF) and coded as follows: PMF: (100% Pearl millet flour); PBM1: (60% Pearl millet + 20% Bambara groundnut + 5% Moringa leave + 5% Vegetable oil + 10% Sucrose); PMB2: (50% Pearl millet + 30% Bambara groundnut + 5% Moringa leave + 5% Vegetable oil + 10% Sucrose); PMB3: (40% Pearl millet + 40% Bambara groundnut + 5% Moringa leave + 5% Vegetable oil + 10% Sucrose); CTL: Control (UNICEF product). The nutritional qualities of the diets were assessed using rat assay, hematological parameters, while microbial and sensory (acceptability) evaluation were also carried out. The data were subjected to one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with a significance level at p<0.05. The assessment of the nutritional status of the experimental rats indicated that those receiving the formulated pearl millet RUTF exhibited superior growth performance. The biological values (BV) of formulated pearl millet RUTF samples varied from 70.36% in PBM1 to 78.50% in PBM3 respectively.  Net protein utilization (NPU) ranged from 58.97% in PBM1 to 70.86% in PBM3 respectively. For protein efficiency ratio (PER) ranged from 2.01 in PBM1 to 2.42 in PBM3 respectively. The formulated RUTF from pearl millet exhibited superior characteristics in terms of appearance, texture, taste, and aroma when compared to PMF (100% pearl millet), with statistical significance (p<0.05). Pearl millet ready-to-use therapeutic food samples may be used as functional foods and suitable to manage children with SAM.