Effects of Complementary Foods Formulation Produced from Malted and Fermented Acha (Digitaria exilis) Flours Supplemented with Soybeans (Glycine max) Flour on Haematological and Histological Parameters of Albino Rats

Abstract

Flours were prepared from malted and germinated acha grains (Digitaria exilis) and were supplemented with soybeans (Glycine max) flour as the complementary foods. The appropriate ratios of combination of the flours were achieved by material balancing. Four food products were formulated and named as Unmalted Unfermented Acha Soybean (UMUFAS), Malted Unfermented Acha Soybean (MUFAS), Malted Fermented Acha Soybean (MFAS) and Unmalted Fermented Acha Soybean (UMFAS). Thirty-five (35) Wister strain of albino rats were grouped into seven groups of five rats per cage and were fed with the formulated blends. The animals were also fed with (Nestle Cerelac), Unmalted Unfermented Acha flour (UMUFA) and Soybean flour which served as controls. The rats in different groups were placed under the same conditions and were fed with eight hundred (840g) of food for 28 days. Haematological and histological parameters of the kidney and liver of the rats fed were examined to assess the suitability of these formulated diets as a possible substitute for the proprietary infant foods. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to establish any significant difference in the analytical data for formulated and control diets (p<0.05). The results also showed that the formulated blends did not impair any significant organ of the rats as indicated by the haematological and histological studies.