Zinc Content and Storage Period in Formulated African Indigenous Food Products

Abstract

Preservation of agricultural produce is one of the central problems facing developing countries, where foods consumed are basically staple food crops and cereals. Owing to the lack or inadequacy of preservation methods, large quantities of urgently needed food spoil there. These problems will be aggravated by the growing dietary needs of these burgeoning populations. Six food products were formulated (cookies, precooked flour, fermented four, noodles, crackers & sim-balls) based on indigenous grains, nuts, seeds, roots and vegetables as follows: finger millet (Eleusine coracana), groundnuts (Arachis hypogaea), simsim (Sesamum

orientale L.), cassava (Manihot esculenta) and slenderleaf (Crotalaria ochroleuca and Crotalaria brevidens). Raw materials were dried, spatially roasted, grinded and fermented ready for product formulation. The formulations were analyzed for zinc content monthly for three months. Zinc analysis was done according to the standard procedure described in AOAC (2000). There were high zinc levels in the formulated indigenous food products which could be attributed to increased diversity of the crops used to formulate the products as not a single crop was used but a combination of at least two crops. As storage time increased, the content also increased, it is therefore evident that storage period increased zinc content of the products.