Sensory evaluation of improved and local recipes for children aged 6 to 23 months in Bukoba, Tanzania

Abstract

Complementary foods are foods other than breast milk or infant formula (liquids, semisolids, and solids) introduced to an infant to provide nutrients as well as energy. To ensure sustainable consumption of the improved recipes, sensory evaluation is important to assess acceptability of the modified recipes among the targeted consumers or population. This study was to assess sensory attributes of the improved recipes for children in two rural villages of Tanzania. Consumer preference of eight recipes was assessed using a nine-point hedonic scale. The results revealed that the improved recipe of ‘Katogo’ dry beans with amaranth and palm oil and ‘Katogo’ fresh beans, pumpkin leaves and sunflower oil had the highest scores for colour (7.9 to 8.1), aroma (7.6 to 7.7), taste (7.6 to 7.8), texture (7.7 to 7.8) and overall acceptability (7.8 to 7.9) compared to local recipe of ‘Katogo’ steamed sardines and improved ‘Katogo’ with groundnut flour and pumpkin. Recipe ‘Katogo’ fresh beans, pumpkin leaves and sunflower oil was the most preferred recipe compared to other recipes due to its colour, aroma, and taste, which resulted after adding red palm oil and amaranth. Likewise, the preference could have been contributed by the ingredients used in the recipes, which were similar to the local ones. This suggests that the modification improved the nutrient contents without affecting the preference. Porridge prepared using maize flour and orange fleshed sweet potatoes scored the highest for all attributes compared to porridge that had eggs in it (recipe egg porridge) and plain local maize porridge (recipe local maize flour porridge). Knowledge on nutrition education to enable community to accept other tastes than their own for better choice of healthy food is highly recommended.   Key words: Improved recipes, sensory evaluation, infant.