Comparative Study on Proximate, Mineral and Anti-Nutrient Content of Composite Roasted Corn Flour with Its Traditional Roasted Corn Counterpart for Homemade Complementary Foods

The present study aimed to produce and evaluate the physicochemical composition of an improved and enriched roasted corn flour with soybean (5%) and groundnut (5%) flours comparatively to its traditional preparation for homemade complementary foods. Samples of (corn, soybean and groundnut) were dried and milled to produce two types of roasted corn flour: the roasted corn flour with soy and peanut and the traditional roasted corn flour with corn only. Laboratory analyses of chemical proximate like nutrients, minerals and anti-nutrients properties were determined according to standard procedures. Data generated were subjected to one way analysis of variance using using SPSS 11.0 software. The results showed that there were significant differences (P<0.05) among the samples.

Regarding proximate composition, the composite roasted corn flour is distinguished by higher crude fat (5.83%), protein (19.66%), carbohydrate (62.31%), fiber (3.67%), ash (1.85%) and calorific (442.99 Kcal/100 g) value. Likewise, mineral contents increased significantly (p<0.05) in the composite roasted corn flour with high value in all the studied minerals including potassium (779.11 mg/100 g), phosphorus (242.83 mg/100 g), calcium (132.45 mg/100 g), zinc (2.67 mg/100 g) and iron (1.44 mg/100 g). The studied of anti-nutrients, showed that composite roasted corn flour also exhibit lower value in oxalate (8.03 mg/100 g) and phytic acid (3.48 mg/100 g). It could be concluded that the composite roasted corn flour appears to be suitable for homemade complementary foods to cover infant and young children needs.