Nutritional quality, safety and shelf life of complementary flour fortified with silver cyprinid and pawpaw

The prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies is high among children of 6–23 months whose major dietary source of micronutrients is staple-based porridge. Therefore, this study formulated and developed a safe-nutritious product to supplement micronutrient intake in children of 6–23 months. Silver cyprinid (Rastrineobola argentea) was washed in ash, steam-blanched, dried and extruded before being combined with extruded maize and refractance window-dried pawpaws to generate fortified and blended flours (FBFs). The inclusion levels were 15–45% for silver cyprinid, 5–15% for pawpaws and 50–80% for maize. Following the optimisation, FBF sample 7, formulated from 50% maize, 45% Silver cyprinid and 5% pawpaw, was the most cost-effective, nutritious, palatable and shelf-stable over a six months’ storage duration. Nutritional analysis per 100 g revealed FBF sample 7 contained protein: 31 g calcium: 800 mg, phosphorus: 0.9 mg, iron: 61 mg and zinc: 12 mg. The product was free from Salmonella, with aflatoxin undetected and total coliform counts below 10cfu/g. FBF sample 7 had significantly higher protein (p < .05), zinc (p < .05) and iron (p < .05) than the rest of the 13 samples. The formulation meets nutritional requirements for children aged 6–23 months and demonstrates strong potential to contribute to alleviating the nutritional deficiencies among infants and young children globally.