Assessment of the quality of flour from diverse ingredients and their fortified complementary foods

Complementary feeding is crucial for infants beyond six months of age, as breast milk alone may not sufficiently meet their evolving nutritional requirements. This study was conducted to develop nutrient-dense complementary baby foods using locally available ingredients and to assess their nutritional composition. Four formulations were developed: F1 (15 % pumpkin seed flour), F2 (10 % pumpkin seed flour, 5 % banana flour), F3 (5 % pumpkin seed flour, 10 % banana flour), and F4 (15 % banana flour), each incorporating brown rice and chickpea flour in a 2:1 ratio. Nutritional analyses revealed that pumpkin seed flour contained high levels of protein (33.76 %), fat (40.18 %), zinc (7.39 mg/100 g), magnesium (447 mg/100 g), and total flavonoids (1.24 mg quercetin equivalents [mg QE]/g). Chickpea flour was the richest source of calcium (152.20 mg/100 g) and iron (8.82 mg/100 g), while banana flour exhibited the highest phenolic content (1.10 mg gallic acid equivalents [mg GAE]/g). Among the formulations, F1 demonstrated superior nutritional values, with the highest contents of protein (19.87 %), fat (11.48 %), calcium (131.87 mg/100 g), iron (5.40 mg/100 g), zinc (2.98 mg/100 g), flavonoids (0.63 mg QE/g), and DPPH radical scavenging activity (75.43 %). F4 recorded the highest total phenolic content (0.96 mg GAE/g) among all formulations. The findings indicate that a blend of brown rice, germinated chickpea, pumpkin seed, and ripe banana flours can be effectively utilized to formulate a nutritionally balanced complementary food suitable for infants.