Nutritional composition, functional properties, and sensory acceptability of complementary flour blends from sorghum, pigeon peas, eggplants, and pumpkin seeds

A nutritious complementary flour was formulated using inexpensive and locally available ingredients, and simple household-based preparation techniques (fermentation, roasting, and boiling) were used. Three complementary flour blends (SPEP-1, SPEP-2, and SPEP-3) were made using sorghum, pigeon peas, eggplants, and pumpkin seeds, in the ratios of 60:20:15:5, 55:25:10:10, and 50:30:5:15, respectively. Proximate analysis revealed that moisture (6.89 - 7.89%), ash (3.02 - 4.48%), crude protein (6.17 - 14.96%), crude fat (16.16 - 20.26%), crude fibre (3.10 - 6.69%), and carbohydrate (51.72 - 60.15%) contents of the three flour blends varied significantly (p < 0.05). Calcium (236.12 - 312.30 mg/100 g) was the principal mineral, followed by iron (53.67 - 70.32 mg/100 g) and zinc (1.58 - 10.83 mg/100 g). Functional properties analysis was observed as follows: gelatinisation temperature (75.67 - 82.67°C), bulk density (0.63 - 0.69 g/mL), foaming capacity (2.33 - 4.0%), swelling capacity (312.67 - 346.67%), water absorption capacity (189.0 - 206.67%), oil absorption capacity (180.67 - 251.0%), emulsion capacity (11.33 - 16.23%), and emulsion stability (9.57 - 14.83%). SPEP-2 had the highest overall acceptability scores, and compared favourably (20%) with a commercial complementary flour (80%), indicating great potential for the use of underutilised crops such as eggplants and pigeon peas in complementary feeding flour.