Development And Evaluation of Millet based Weaning Products Enriched with Beetroot Powder and Moringa Powder for Infants.

Abstract

A good nutrition is important for the growing age of infant as the needs increases and the breastfeeding is not able to fulfill the requirements. Thus we start weaning for proper growth of body as well as for mental health. Millets are considered as nutritious grain for infants.  The gut of infant is not fully developed to tolerate the gluten present in cereals thus millets can be a good alternative as these are gluten free. Millets provide ample amount of macronutrients like protein, carbohydrates along with fats and micronutrients such as magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, calcium, carotenoids, vitamin. Moringa and beetroot both are good source of micronutrients such as carotenoid, calcium, iron, potassium, zinc and other nutrients. Along with the health benefits of moringa and beetroot they also provide natural color.  In this study we develop millet based weaning premixes namely moringa soup and beetroot millet premix three formulations SWS (C), SWS1 (10%), SWS2 (20%) and SWF(C), SWF1(10%), SWF2 (20%) weaning based moringa soup and beetroot millet premix respectively with different composition. On sensory evaluation (with 9 point hedonic scale) it was found that SWS1 has the highest overall acceptability(7.3) for the moringa soup, with 7.5 for color and appearance, 7.6 for consistency, 6.9 for aroma and 7.3 for taste.  On the other hand SWF1 was the preferred choice for the beetroot millet premix with 7.5 for overall acceptability, 7.8 for color, 7.7 for consistency, 7.6 for appearance, 7.2 for aroma and 7.3 for taste.