Preparation of Infant Formulas Supplemented with Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Precursors
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- Category: Vol. 79, March 2011
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Preparation of Infant Formulas Supplemented with Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Precursors,FAWZY A. EL-SHOBAKI, ABDEL RAHMAN M. ATTIA, IBRAHIM H. BADAWY, MAHA H. MAHMOUD and SHERIF S. MOHAMAD
Abstract
This study aims to formulate and produce baby foods of high nutritional value and contain a-linolenic acid that is precursor of the long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCP-UFA) to satisfy the requirement for growth and development of the body and brain during the weanling stage. Different food sources were used such as whole wheat, chickpea, rice, lupine, whey protein, wheat germ, flax seed, almond, walnut, sesame, peanut, pumpkin seeds, skimmed milk and carrot. These ingredients were mixed in different proportions after specific treatment and four formulas were prepared that satisfy the codex standards for baby food formulas.
The chemical composition of the formulas was analyzed. Carbohydrates ranged from 66.75 to 75.30g%, protein from 11.9 to 18.2g% and fat from 2.8 to 8.2g%. The total calorie content ranged from 323.0 to 365.6Kcal. Analysis of fat and fatty acid composition of these meals showed that the control diet contains 2.8% fat and the formulas 1-4 amounted 6.8, 8.2, 6.25 and 7.45%, respectively. The amount of polyunsat-urated fatty acids in the different formulas were 45.38% for formula (1), 37.54% for formula (2), 38.15% for formula (3) and 52.94% for formula (4). The amounts of monounsaturates in different formulas were 41.61%, 48.16%, 49.87% and 33.26% for formulas 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively. The saturated fatty acid percent was 13.01% in formula (1), 14.30% for formula (2), 11.98% for formula (3) and 13.80% for formula (4). The ratio of n3/n6 in different formulas were 1:7.3 for formula (1), 1:1.4 for formula (2), 1:3 for formula (3) and 1:2.5 for formula (4).
The nutritional value of these meals was evaluated through feeding experiment made on experimental animals. It was found that the mean of body weight gain of animals of the control group amounted to 89.71±9.58g. The values reported for groups 1 to 4 were 78.43±4.25, 85.93±2.90, 85.93±2.90, 51.07±2.77g. The food efficiency ratio of the different formulas were 0.29±0.02 for control 0.27±0.02 for group (1), 0.25±0.01 for group (2), 0.23±0.01 for group (3) and 0.18±0.01 for group (4). The brain of rats fed on any of the four formulas 1, 2, 3 and 4 showed a percentage higher than that of control rats.
It can be concluded that these prepared formulas can be given to children to supply them with essential nutrients including the precursors of the long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids necessary for normal growth and development at that stage.