Effects of Processing Methods on Nutritional, Functional and Sensory Attributes Of Complementary Food Made From Selected Cereals and Legumes in Birnin Kebbi, Nigeria

Abstract Various processing methods are used widely in preparation of complementary foods. These processing methods are known to have effect on the overall nutritional profiles of formulations. This study evaluated the effects of these methods, specifically, soaking and roasting on a local complementary food that is prepared by mixing cereals and legumes at 3:2 ratios respectively. The proximate, functional, antinutritional, mineral and Amino acid content, storage stability and microbial analysis were conducted on two samples F1 (Soaked) and F2 (Roasted) of the complementary food formulation using standard analytical techniques. The results showed a significant difference (P<0.05). in the proximate properties. F1 showed increased crude fat (0.33±23.43%), protein (0.22±10.93%), fiber (0.46±15.73%) and energy density (457.99k/cal) while F2 showed increased carbohydrate (0.41±63.05%), moisture (0.07±2.45%) and ash content (0.19±2.92%). A significant difference (P<0.05) was observed in the antinutritional content, with F2 having lower values compared to F1 for both oxalate (0.02±0.46meq/L) and phytate (0.03±0.36meq/L). However, no significant difference (P>0.05) was observed in storage stability and sensory attributes although F2 had the highest overall acceptability score (29.5) for the sensory attributes. A significant difference (P<0.05) was observed in bulk density, swelling index and mineral content. F1 sample recorded the highest level of sodium (0.81±15.86mg\dl), iron (0.00±1.51mg\dl), cupper (0.02±0.20 mg\dl), and potassium (0.00±24.57mg\dl) while F2 had higher amounts of phosphorus (0.52±18.81mg\dl), calcium (0.23±69.54mg\dl) and magnesium (0.08±19.64 mg\dl). Higher Amino acid content was observed in F1 except in theorine, whose value was higher in F2. Low bacterial count was recorded for both samples and no toxic microbes were identified. Overall, the result showed that each processing method (soaking and roasting) had a varying effect on the complementary food formulations; this can be used to target and improve specific desirable properties when preparing complementary foods. Keywords:Complesmentary foods, functional properties, nutritional content, processing methods, sensory attributes