¹Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Dr. Bhanuben Mahindra Nanavati College of Home Science (Autonomous), Matunga, Mumbai, India

^*Corresponding author: Dr. Roshni Krishna K, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Dr. Bhanuben Mahindra Nanavati College of Home Science, Matunga, Mumbai, India; E-mail: rk9845969@gmail.com

Copyright: © 2022 Roshni Krishna K, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

A shelf life study was done to standardize and to design product for consumer acceptance which is also nutritious. A healthy nutritious recipe for weaning mix was developed which was also ready to cook. The weaning mix (Nutrawean) was developed to combat PEM (Protein Energy Malnutrition) in children with a combination of ingredients that ensures adequate energy and protein for the children. The main ingredients in this mix were powdered rice, dal, jaggery and ghee. To add on to the fiber and binding, arrowroot powder (Maranta Arundinacea) was also added. Nutrawean, apart from giving protein and energy also provides omega 3 (dha) essential for brain development. Adding jaggery to it instead of sugar imparts some amount of iron and other minerals. The shelf life study included Sensory evaluation using scoring test with a 5-point scale. The attributes used were taste, texture, smell, overall acceptability. The other aspects covered in the shelf life study were packaging, labelling, budgeting and marketing. Summary: As this product has good amounts of essential nutrients like protein, omega 3, fiber and sufficient amounts of energy, this could be effective in battling PEM in children.

Weaning; PEM; DHA; Arrowroot; Ghee; Complimentary feeding

Nutrawean (weaning mix) was finalized after a lot of deliberations for a food product development product which was a part of undergraduate syllabus in the last year of BSc. Course in Food Science and Nutrition.
The objective of the study is:
• To develop a food product easily available for people of all economic background.
• To modify and develop traditional recipe to ready to cook product.
• To standardize and innovate healthy weaning mix.
• To understand the product well and do research-based study on the ingredients.
A healthy weaning mix (Nutrawean) was developed and standardized for children. The main ingredients used for this innovative recipe are easily available like rice, moong dal, arrowroot powder, ghee and jaggery. Studies have shown that PEM is prevalent in children who are transitioning from breastmilk to solid foods [1,2]. The lower economical population lack affordable options for ready to cook weaning food in the market [3,4]. Nutrawean comes as a mix, not only suitable for children but also for other age groups which can be made into nutritious laddoos, snacks or other sweets. Ghee (clarified butter) is an essential fat for growing children. It has omega 3 (DHA) for brain development as it is a major component of retinal and brain tissues [5,6]. Studies show that ghee is superior quality fat [7,8]. Ghee remains important in preventing various diseases.

The base ingredients are Rice and Moong Dal to provide energy and protein of good quality. Since it’s a combination of cereals and pulses, the protein quality is also increased. Arrowroot has been studied to have higher amount of crude fiber which relieves constipation and beneficial for the child. It also has other minerals such as iron, phosphorous and magnesium [5]. Jaggery has been added instead of sugar as sugar contributes to empty calories. Jaggery has some amount of essential minerals that can add on to the nutrition of the product.

Weaning is the process of gradually introducing an infant to what will be its adult diet while withdrawing its supply of mother’s milk. The infant is said to be fully weaned once it’s no longer fed breast milk or bottled substitute. The transition from breast milk to adult food is made easier with weaning foods or weaning mixes. The available options for weaning foods in the market are expensive and thus not affordable for many. This makes PEM a major cause of concern amongst children [3]. Ready to cook weaning foods are efficient for working parents as it saves on time and it is easier to feed regularly. Materials used to prepare this product are easily available and the process too is easy. It is cost effective and nutritious at the same time. The materials/ingredients are rice, moong dal, ghee, arrowroot powder, jaggery. After sensory evaluation, jaggery was replaced by jaggery powder as it made the mixture a little more uniform in consistency. All the ingredients are dried and powdered to keep the moisture content of the product low. Low moisture content helps in increasing the shelf life of the product. It is one of the traditional methods of preservation of food (Sarah Finn et al., 2013). The standardized amount of each ingredient is given in the Table 1. The method of preparation is given in the flow diagram.

In order to study the shelf life of the product in order to study the shelf life of the product, Sensory Evaluation done Periodically for Four Weeks. Scoring test with a five-point rating scale was used. Characteristics evaluated were appearance, texture, after taste, flavor, taste and overall acceptability and scored out of 5 where 5 = Excellent, 4 = Very Good, 3 = Good, 2 = Fair, 1 = Poor. The results of evaluation are as shown in figure 1.

Packaging material BOPP was used as shown in Figure 2. BOPP films have excellent gloss and high transparency that give it an excellent look and fine finish. It has excellent clarity. It acts as good barrier to water vapor, hence increase the shelf life of the Product (www.cosmofilms.com).

A nutritional label was designed for Nutrawean. Information like NET WG. Manufacturing date, Veg status, Major Nutrients and Contact information’s were added.

100% veg, Net weight: 30 gms, MRP: 15/-, MFD: Best before: 2 months from packing. The composition is mentioned in the following table 2.

Budgeting helped to know how to improve upon the next product sales in terms of feedback collected from the target population about the pricing and other aspects. Budgeting also helps to make the seller to sell their products in their financial way and to the consumer in their budget. For the bulk production, ingredients for Nutrawean has been brought form the wholesale market to increase the profit. Cost Calculation for the Ingredients of is given in the below table 3. Each packet has 30g of the mix. The total cost comes to 425 rupees. Each packet would cost 3.6 rupees. Each packet was sold for 15 rupees. Hence profit made on each packet was 11.4 rupee.

The weaning mix had very good consumer acceptability. It had a good shelf life of up to two months. It is cheaper than the other available market options and affordable to the poor population. It has good amount of some of the major nutrients. The mix could also be made into various other products like porridge, laddoos and nankhatais as shown in Figure 3. The mix can also be consumed by diabetic patients if amount of ghee is reduced. The nutrawean mix could be a great solution for children suffering from PEM as it is rich in nutrients as well as is saving on preparation time. It is also comparatively cheaper than other options.