A complementary food supplement from local food ingredients to enhance iron intake among children aged 6–59 months in Benin

Marius Affonfere, Flora Josiane Chadare*, Finagnon Toyi Kévin Fassinou, Elise F. Talsma, Anita R. Linnemann, Paulin Azokpota

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Nutritious complementary feeding is often not affordable in Benin, and iron deficiency exists. This research aimed at formulating an affordable and sensory acceptable complementary food supplement using local food ingredients to increase iron intake among children aged 6–59 months in Benin. The complementary food supplement was formulated to ensure that 10 g would cover 25% of the estimated average requirements for iron for children aged 6 to 12 months. Adansonia digitata fruit pulp, Moringa oleifera leaf powder, and Cochlospermum tinctorium root powder were used to compose the complementary food supplement, which was mixed with maize and sorghum ogi porridges before being presented to the mothers and children for the acceptability test. The mineral contents of Adansonia digitata fruit pulp in mg/100 g dw were 9.9 ± 0.1 for iron and 0.9 ± 0.1 for zinc. The iron and zinc contents of Moringa oleifera leaf powder and Cochlospermum tinctorium root powder in mg/100 g dw were 34.1 ± 2.2 and 26.8 ± 2.7 and 9 ± 0.0 and 0.9 ± 0.0, respectively. The complementary food supplement contained, in mg/100 g dw, 17.4 ± 1.1 of iron and 1.2 ± 0.1 of zinc. The maize and sorghum ogi porridges enriched with the complementary food supplement at substitution rates of 15% and 16% (in dry weight), respectively, were acceptable to 85% of children for sorghum ogi porridge and 87% for maize ogi porridge. The present study demonstrated the potential of local food ingredients in the formulation of an iron-rich and acceptable complementary food supplement for children aged 6–59 months in Benin.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3824-3835
Number of pages12
JournalFood Science and Nutrition
Volume9
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Jun 2021

Keywords

  • anemia
  • food supplementation
  • food-to-food fortification
  • minerals

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