Enrichment of flour of Indigenous bitter cassava "Lenga Tome" for feeding infants and young children (6-23 months) in Kajo-Keji County-South Sudan

Abstract

Cassava (Manihot esculenta - Crantz) is a root crop that feeds over 500 million people in the tropics though is poor in protein, vitamins and minerals. This study sought to enrich cassava flour of the South Sudanese indigenous bitter variety (IBV) “Lenga Tome” from Kajo-keji County for feeding IYC (6-23 months). A batch of cassava roots was heaped and the other one soaked to ferment. Their flours were analyzed for cyanide content. Composites F3, F4, F8 and F9 were enriched in the ratio of soak fermented cassava flour: Spinach: Carrot: Green grams as 40:5:30:25%, 55:10:05:30%, 30:15:25:30%, 25:25:25:25% respectively. The control was 100% plain flour of the unfermented roots. Porridges were made from the composites and rated for their acceptability using a 9-point hedonic scale from 1 (disliked extremely) to 9 (liked extremely). The % contribution of composites for nutrients was estimated per two servings of 125ml of porridge for infants (6-11 months) and 250ml for children (12-23 months). Composites were quantified by HPLC for Provitamin A (PvA) to estimate the Limit of Detection of Provitamin A (LODPvA) or bioavailability based on Retinol Equivalence (RE) factor. Composites were digested in 2% HCl for Phytate (P) and in conc. HNO3 and H2SO4 for iron (Fe) content. Mole ratio P: Fe was used to estimate Fe bioavailability. Soak fermented flours had significantly low (P<0.05) cyanide (4.38ppm). Composite F3 was qualified for making nutrient dense porridge (CBNDP) for the IYC in the community. The % contribution of Freeze Dried (FD) composites to RDA of Fe for infants (6-11 months) was 98.1-124.3% mg/100g and 157.3-199.0% mg/100g for children (12-23 months). The % contribution of FD composites for PvA was 266.9-434.7% RE for infants (6-11months) and 500.4-815.1% RE for children (12-23months). The Modified Solar Dried (MSD) composites contributed 78.3-181.6% RE of PvA for infants (6-11months) and 146.7-340.5% RE of PvA for children (12-23months). The LODPvA was significantly high (P<0.05) in all composites (0.1-0.2 µmol/L) except for F4 (0.0 µmol/L) of the MSD. The P: Fe ratio was significantly (P<0.05) as low as 0.0-0.6. The high acceptability of the porridge, its high % contribution for iron and provitamin A to the RDA for IYC (6-23months) and bioavailability of the nutrients predict reduction of iron and vitamin A deficiencies in Kajo-Keji, South Sudan as a whole and other parts of the world that will have access to the product.