Comparison between low-cost locally produced complementary foods with high-cost imported complementary foods available in Bangladesh by Rat Bioassay

Taslima Arzu 1, *, Mohammad Abdus Satter 2, Dipak Kumar Paul 3, Ariful Kabir Sujan 4, Syeda Absha Jabin 2 Kanika Mitra 2, Dipa Islam 2 and Mowri Dhali 5

1 World Vision International, Zia Mension, (3rd floor), Shahid Shoroni, Baharchora, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
2 Institute of Food Science Technology (IFST), Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Dhaka, Bangladesh.
3 Department of Applied Nutrition and Food Technology, Islamic University, Kushtia, Bangladesh.
4 Magenta International, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
5 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh.
 
Research Article
International Journal of Life Science Research Archive, 2024, 07(01), 019–027.
Article DOI: 10.53771/ijlsra.2024.7.1.0058

 

Publication history: 
Received on 01 June 2024; revised on 04 August 2024; accepted on 07 August 2024
 
Abstract: 
Highly nutritive value contained complementary foods are very important for the children 6-23 months to meet the increasing demands for body requirement as well as fight against high malnutrition. Malnutrition is a persistent health problem among children in Bangladesh, especially under 2 year’s children due to the lack of proper complementary foods both diverse and balanced. Highly nutritive locally produced Complementary foods were prepared by using locally available food resources to ensure the availability of low-cost Complementary food in Bangladesh. The developed foods were evaluated for their nutritional characteristics and microbiological quality. The food (L-1) contained the major nutrients like moisture, ash, fat, protein, fiber, carbohydrate, and energy respectively 2.96%, 3.13%, 9.45%, 15.56%, 0.07%, 59.12%, and 394.1 kcal/ 100 g, and (L-2) 2.08%, 3.09%, 9.3%, 16.09%, 0.08%, 59.74%, and 397.5 kcal/ 100 g, respectively which were comparable to those of the two good quality imported commercial Complementary foods F-1 & F-2. The vitamin A, iron, and calcium contents were significantly different (p<0.05) than the commercial foods. The overall bacteriological status of the prepared and imported commercial Complementary foods was observed to be satisfactory. In rat bioassay, the highest PER and FER were shown in the rats feed on the locally produced instant complementary foods which indicates that it would favorable for the children and good option for the mothers. The costs of the locally prepared Complementary foods are considerably cheaper than the two imported commercial Complementary foods of the same quality and suitable for low-income people of Bangladesh.
 
Keywords: 
Complementary Food; Low Cost; locally produced; Rice; Rat bioassay; Microbial
 
Full text article in PDF: