Proximate Analysis of Some Selected Infant Formula Sold in Makurdi Metropolis
Ogochukwu Augustina Onuorah
Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi, Nigeria.
Rufus Sha'ato
Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi, Nigeria.
Okeke Rufina Obioma
Department of Animal Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria.
Adegoke Abiodun Adebimpe
Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Health Sciences, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria.
Adekola Omololu Atanda
Department of Animal Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria.
Louis Ugwu
Department of Biology, School of Science, Federal College of Education, Katsina, Nigeria.
Oludayo Michael Akinsola
Department of Theriogenology and Production, University of Jos, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Infant formula is a synthetic version of mother’s milk and belongs to a class of food materials known as dairy substitutes. This study was designed to evaluate the proximate composition of some selected infant formula sold in Makurdi metropolis. Six (6) different brands of infant formula samples were purchased from the major markets, Wadata market and North bank market Makurdi Benue State, North Central Nigeria. The six different brands comprise of three (3) infant milk formulae and three (3) infant cereal formulae. Samples on some Selected Infant Formulae were analysed in the laboratory for proximate composition and the data were subjected to Analysis of Variance to rank the significant differences in means. There were significantly different (P<0.05) across the selected infant formulae sample for moisture, ash, crude protein, crude fate, crude fibre and carbohydrates. The result shows that FRISOGOLD significantly (P<0.05) has the highest moisture content (11.60%) with cowbell having the lowest (2.45%) while the ash content of cowbell was found to be the highest compared to other formulae. In conclusion, the commercial baby food samples (MYBOY, NAN and cowbell) have a low moisture content which suggests an asset as this prolongs the shelf life and also inhibits microbial activity on these products thereby preventing spoilage.
Keywords: Infant milk, proximate, Lactogen, ANOVA