Abstract

Vitamin A and iron deficiencies are prevalent in preschool children being a public health concern. The study aimed at developing a flour blend formulation made of sorghum, pumpkin pulp and seeds and examining its contribution to the daily nutrient requirement for iron and vitamin A among preschool children. Three flour blends were formulated using a mixture of fermented sorghum flour, pumpkin seed flour and pumpkin pulp flour with the following ratios 80:10:10 (FP1), 70:15:15 (FP2) and 60:20:20 (FP3), respectively whereas control was made of 100% fermented sorghum flour. The flour blends and the control were analyzed for moisture content, protein, crude fiber, crude fat, ash, carbohydrate, beta-carotene and iron content. Further, sensory tests were conducted using a nine-hedonic scale to evaluate consumers acceptability of porridge made of the flour samples. Microbial analysis was conducted to establish the safety of developed flours. The results show that as the proportion of pumpkin pulp and pumpkin seed flours increased the protein content, ash, vitamin A and iron content significantly (P<0.05) increased. The flour blend FP3 recorded the highest amount of protein (22.87%), vitamin A (875.00 µg RAE/100g) and iron (27.51 mg/100g). The FP2 flour blend was the most preferred with sensory score of 7.91 and had ability to meet >70% of daily protein, iron and vitamin A requirements of preschool children thus most suitable for a feeding trial. The findings of this study demonstrate that pumpkin pulp and pumpkin seed can be used to enhance the nutritive value of sorghum and as such meet the protein, iron and vitamin A requirements of preschool children aiding in the eradication of nutritional deficiencies.

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