Biochemical, rheological properties and microbiological loads of some infant flours formulated from local products from Côte d'Ivoire

Most of the infant flours produced in Ivory Coast are of poor nutritional quality. The objective of this study is to formulate infant flours with good nutritional quality. Thus, eight infant flours (F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7 and F8) differing in their raw material composition were formulated. These flours were formulated with local products such as sorghum, fonio, sweet potato, cashew kernel, voandzou and néré pulp. The biochemical, the rheological and the microbiological characteristics of these flours were evaluated and compared to that of a control flour which is a commercial infant flour (T). The results showed high protein contents for the control and Flour F1 (14.3%), high lipid contents for flour F8 (8.7%), high carbohydrate contents for flour F7 (68.4%) and high fiber contents for flour F5 (9.8%). Flour F2 is the most energetic (415.8 Kcal). Regarding rheological properties, the solubility index varied between 11.7 and 19.6% with the lowest index for flour F6 and the highest for the control (T). The swelling power of the composite flours varied from 6.9 to 9.1 ge/gMS with the lowest value for the F2 formulation and the highest value for the control. Regarding the microbiological quality, the load for the total flora is between 103 and 68.6.10³ CFU/g with the lowest load for the control and the highest for F5.  As for the yeast and mold load, it is between 10² and 31.6.10² CFU/g with the lowest load for F2 and the highest for the control.