Abstract:
Weaning foods are crucial for infant nutrition during the transition from milk to semisolid
foods. Unripe banana (Musa spp.) is rich in resistant starch, minerals, and
bioactive compounds, making it a valuable ingredient for nutrient-enriched infant
foods. This study aimed to develop and evaluate weaning food mixes prepared from
unripe banana and cereal combinations to improve nutritional value, microbial safety,
and sensory acceptability. Four treatments were formulated with varying levels of
unripe banana powder: )oh (Tt), l}Yo (Tz), 20o/o (Tz), and 30Yo (To), blended with
roasted rice flour, green gram flour, finger millet flour, sesame, and cardamom. The
formulations were analyzed for nutritional qualities, including moisture, ash, fiber,
protein, fat, pH, and titratable acidity, as well as milrobial analysis. The study was also
evaluated for organoleptic characteristics such as color, texture, flavour, taste, and
overall acceptability. The compositional analysis revealed that while the proportion of
unripe banana powder increased from \Yo to 30Yo, the ash (2.46 to 3.20yo), fibre (3.1 to
4.lyo),protein (19.03 to23.44o/o),fat(8.77 to 10.0%) pH (6.i3 to 6.83Yo), and titratable
acidity (0.070 to 0.083%) were significantly increased among the treatments.
Conversely, moisture was decreased significantly from 7.0 to 6.53%. The sensory
assessment demonstrated that there was significant difference (p<0.05) among the
treatments. The formulation containing30%o unripe banana powder (T+) achieving the
highest acceptability scores in terms of colour, texture, flavour, taste, and overall
acceptability. The study concluded that the T+ formulation, with 30% unripe banana
powder, offers the best balance of nutritional, microbial and sensory qualities, making
it a promising option for banana based weaning food.
