Journal of Food Processing & Technology

Abstract

Application of Germinated Corn Flour on the Reduction of Flow Velocities of the Gruels made from Corn, Soybean, Moringa oleifera Leaf Powder and Cassava

Julie Mathilde Klang*

Background: In Cameroon, nearly 1 in 3 children under the age of 5 years suffer from protein-energy malnutrition (31.7%). This malnutrition generally appears at weaning age and is the result of weaning food that is not appropriate for children (low nutritional and energy value, high consistency). Cameroonian flora has foods such as maize, soya, cassava and Moringa that could be used in the formulation of quality weaning foods. The use of these different elements in the formulation of infant flours combined with the incorporation of small quantities of germinated corn flours and raw extracts of these germinated flours would reduce the consistency and increase the energy density of the gruels. This technology could therefore help to fight against child malnutrition. The nutritional problems of young children led us to formulate two infant flours in order to contribute to the improvement of the nutritional value of locally available complementary foods.

Aim of the study: The aim of this work is to determine optimal conditions to produce infant flours based on corn, cassava, soya and Moringa olifeira with desired flow, nutritional value and energy.

Material and methods: To lead this study, different flours mentioned above were used. These flours were then chemically characterized; the physical and functional properties were evaluated. The gruels were prepared from these flours and the flow velocities were evaluated.

Results: It appears from this study that formulations based on corn are very rich in proteins (11-12% of DM) and lipids (10.7-11.6% of DM). These two formulations are also good sources of iron and magnesium. Both cassava-based formulations had high calcium levels (26-35 mg/100g of DM). The physical and functional properties were influenced (p˂0.05) by the nature of the flour. The use of amylase flour and extract revealed that at concentrations of 2% and 2.5%, respectively, they reduced the consistency of the gruels. Generally, the incorporation of amylases flours during the cooking of the gruels results in a multiplication of the energy density by 2.66 (multiplication factor) for amylase flour to 5.1 (multiplication factor) for amylase crude extract. It also appears that the reduction in consistency and the increase in the dry matter concentration of the gruels are positively correlated with the Ca content and the solubility index.

Conclusion: All this shows that the combination of the formulation and use of amylase flours could be used to fight against protein energy malnutrition in children.

Published Date: 2019-05-09; Received Date: 2019-03-26