TITLE:
Process for Formulating an Infant Flour Based on Local Ingredients from Senegal, West Africa, Enriched with Baobab Oil (Adansonia digitata L.)
AUTHORS:
Edouard Mbarick Ndiaye, Alioune Sow, Kouakou N’guessan Stanislas Kobenan, Omar Toure, Seyni Ndiaye, Omar Ibn Khatab Cisse, Pape Guédel Faye, Hicham Harhar, Nicolas Cyrille Ayessou, Mady Cisse
KEYWORDS:
Baobab Oil and Pulp, Enrichment, Infant Flours, Nutritional Quality, Senegal
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.16 No.8,
August
8,
2025
ABSTRACT: Infant malnutrition remains a public health problem in rural Senegal. Locally-produced infant flours are of inferior quality and still do not comply with World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. In this context, the aim of this study is to develop a new infant flour formula enriched with baobab oil, made from local cereals (millet and maize), local legumes (cowpea) and baobab fruit pulp. The matrix formulation method was used to generate the proportions of ingredients to be blended for the two (2) flours: one reference (F1) and the other enriched (F2). The results obtained show that F2 flour has a nutritional composition (protein 12.23 g·100g−1; lipids 8.68 g·100g−1; carbohydrates 68.60 g·100g−1; energy values 398.47 kcal) in line with WHO standards, with calcium contents of 86.21 mg·100g−1, potassium 961.98 mg·100g−1, phosphorus 208.39 mg·100g−1, iron 6.58 mg·100g−1 and zinc 3.27 mg·100g−1. The addition of baobab pulp and oil not only increases the flour’s energy value, but also enriches it with fatty acids, sterols, tocopherols and vitamin C. In short, this F2 flour could be recommended as a food supplement for infants and young children, helping to combat malnutrition.