Nutritional Quality, Functional Properties and Sensory Acceptability of an Orange - fleshed Sweet Potato - based Complementary Food
Esther Kumea Ashun
Department of Home Economics, Cape Coast Technical Institute, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Sarah Darkwa
Department of Vocational and Technical Education, University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
Christiana Nsiah-Asamoah *
Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The study focuses on the development of a complementary food (CF) with the orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) to help address the public health problem of vitamin A deficiency among infants. Experimental research design was used for the study. Fifty six infants aged between 6 and 24 months were purposively sampled, together with their mothers, to evaluate three complementary food (CF) products and a control, code-named GAD, PEA, SAB and KAN respectively. The CF products were formulated from orange fleshed sweet potato, anchovies, onion and tomatoes; and the nutrients and functional properties were determined. A questionnaire and an interview guide were used to collect data to assess the sensory attributes and overall acceptability of the formulated CF products. The results showed that the three complementary foods were nutrient dense, with the moisture content being highest in PEA and lowest in GAD. GAD, PEA and SAB were all high in protein and fibre but low in fat and carbohydrate. KAN (control) was the most acceptable with respect to all the sensory attributes of a complementary food, although its overall acceptability was not significantly different from that of the other three CF products - GAD, PEA and SAB.
Keywords: Vitamin A, orange-fleshed sweet potato, complementary food, nutritional quality.