Development and quality evaluation of banana‐rice‐bean porridge as weaning food for older infants and young children

Among low‐income families in developing countries, foods fed to infants and young children are rich in carbohydrates but limiting in protein and important micronutrients. Our objective was to develop a high‐protein weaning food (porridge), with enhanced nutritional contents and acceptable sensory attributes. Cooked light red kidney beans and brown rice and semi‐ripe Cavendish bananas were air‐dried (60°C, 8–16 hr) and milled into flours to formulate seven banana‐rice‐bean (BRB) porridge premixes; 80:10:10, 70:10:20, 70:20:10, 60:25:15, 55:20:25, 50:30:20, and 45:40:15 BRBs, respectively. The premixes were analyzed for nutritional (protein, dietary fiber, resistant starch, minerals) and physical properties (moisture, color, density, water solubility, oil and water absorption capacity). Four prepared porridges were evaluated for selected sensory attributes by 31 African/Asian mothers. All BRB porridge premixes met the World Health Organization recommended levels of protein for complementary foods (5.70–8.52 g/100 g). Resistant starch and dietary fiber contents were 6.35–9.21 and 10.1–11.82 g/100 g, respectively. The oligosaccharide (raffinose, stachyose) ranged from 0.19 to 0.46 mg/g and 3.49–6.27 mg/g, respectively. The Tristimulus color values showed a mixed trend, with significant differences among porridges for CIE L*and a* values and Hue angle, whereas no differences were observed for CIE b* value and Chroma. The sensory quality of all prepared porridges was shown to be acceptable, with scores of 6.5–7.1, on a 9‐point Hedonic scale. Twenty‐nine panelists indicated that they would feed BRB porridge to a child under 5 years old. Overall, the results of this study demonstrated that the BRB porridge could be used as a nutritious weaning food.