Development of rice porridge for elderly with dysphagia

To gather opinions on types and nutrition characteristics of products for Thai elderly with dysphagia, focus group interviews were conducted with a total of 40 participants involving doctors, nurses, nutritionists, physical therapists, and caregivers. The most interesting food was rice porridge (66.7%), followed by steamed egg (40.0%), and pumpkin soup (20.0%). The products should be ready to consume, with modified texture and fortified with protein, minerals, and vitamins. Therefore, a rice porridge was developed in 2 stages. Firstly, ratio of Jasmine rice (JR) and Riceberry rice (RB) was studied (100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75 and 0:100). All the porridges demonstrated shear thinning flow. The sample with only RB (0:100) obtained the highest appearance, color, viscosity and taste liking scores (p<0.05) as judged by the elderlies (n=50). Secondly, the RB porridge was formulated with four chicken soups containing different ingredients, including rice bran oil, dried bean sheet, dried mushroom, and soymilk. The apparent viscosity of all porridges ranged within 725-1,188 cP, which complies with the International Dysphagia Diet Standardizations Initiative level 4 and National Dysphagia Diet level 3. The formulation had no effect on sensory acceptability (p≥0.05). Thus, this RB porridge could be a recommended product for elderly with mild-oral dysphagia.