Comparative study of the nutritional composition of local brown rice, maize (obaatanpa), and millet—A baseline research for varietal complementary feeding
Date
2020-03-16
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Food Science & Nutrition
Abstract
Introduction: Childhood malnutrition remains a major public health issue of concern
particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, and inadequate complementary feeding is a common
cause. Promoting dietary diversity is one way of tackling this problem. High
dependence on maize has its limitations; modifying other local staples into complementary
foods can be a feasible alternative to promote optimum nutrition.
Objectives: Comparing the nutritional composition of brown rice to millet and maize
to determine its beneficial value as complementary food.
Methods: Experimental study was carried out at the Department of Nutrition and
Food Science of University of Ghana. Samples of maize, millet, and brown rice were
obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture, Accra and nutritional contents analyzed.
Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20.0 and ANOVA were used to assess
differences.
Results: Results showed brown rice contained the highest content of carbohydrates
(77.94 ± 0.32) % and zinc (12.15 ± 0.21) mg while millet had the highest protein
(10.49 ± 0E-7) mg and fat (4.99 ± 0.46) % content. Maize contained highest amount
of calcium (21.24 ± 0.14) mg. Iron was only found in millet (10.72 ± 0.15) mg. The zinc
content per 100 g of all three (3) cereals was above RDA. All three (3) cereals contributed
significantly <10% to the RDA of calcium. Iron content of millet contributed
more than 90% to RDA.
Conclusions: Locally produced brown rice is rich in zinc and carbohydrates compared
to millet and maize. Thus, can be used for complementary feed but, given the low
protein and iron content, it may need to be fortified or diversified and used as a cereal
blend.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
brown rice, complementary feeding, maize, millet
Citation
Yankah N, Intiful FD, Tette EMA. Comparative study of the nutritional composition of local brown rice, maize (obaatanpa), and millet—A baseline research for varietal complementary feeding. Food Sci Nutr. 2020;8:2692–2698. https://doi.org/10.1002/fsn3.1556