Functional and nutritional evaluation of supplementary food formulations.

Two type of ready to eat supplementary food
formulations were developed by roller drying based on
wheat, soy protein concentrate, whey protein concentrate,
and green gram flour and were fortified with vitamins and
minerals to meet the one third of the Recommended daily
allowance (RDA). The supplementary food formulations
contained 20–21% protein, 370–390 kcal of energy and
2,300 μg of β-carotene per 100 g serving. The physicochemical,
functional and nutritional characteristics were
evaluated. The chemical score indicated that sulphur
containing amino acids were the first limiting in both the
formulations. The calculated nutritional indices, essential
amino acid index, biological value, nutritional index and
C-PER were higher for formula II. Rat bioassay showed
higher PER (2.3) for formula II compared to formula I
(2.1). The bioaccessibility of iron was 23%. Sensory studies
indicated that the products were acceptable with a shelf life
of 1 year under normal storage condition. However, the
formulations were nutritionally better than only cereal
based supplementary food formulations available commercially.
The product could be served in the form of porridge
with water/milk or in the form of small laddu.