Vol. 6 No. 1 (2023): The Reality of Women in Science

• Ayo, J. A.
  Department of Food Science and Technology, Federal University Wukari, Nigeria
  




• Awogbenja, M. D.
  Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Nasarawa State University, Lafia, Nigeria
  




• Ayo, V. I.
  Department of Biochemistry, Federal University Wukari, Nigeria
  




• Gbuusu B.
  Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Mkar, Mkar, Nigeria
  




• Akaahan S. P
  Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Mkar, Mkar, Nigeria
  




• Maiogo, Y. J.
  Department of Food Science and Technology, Federal University Wukari, Nigeria
  

The study evaluated blends produced from malted millet and orangernfleshed sweet potato (OFSP) flour The OFSP flour were substitutedrninto the malted millet flour at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25% to produce A, B,rnC, D, E,F and G flour blends, respectively. Blood meal(2%), bonernmeal (2%) and salt (1%) were added to the respective flour blendsrnand fed to the albino rats for 28 day after five days acclimatization.rnThe nutritional quality, haematological, serum and growth performancernof formulated diet on the animal fed were determined. The moisture,rntotal ash and carbohydrate contents of the feed decreased from 8.20rnto 6.90, 2.03 to 0.70 and 76.28 to 60.83% respectively while thernfibre, fat, and protein contents of the feed increased from 2.30 torn3.22, 3.16 to 4.56 and 10.61 to 21.74%, respectively with increase inrnadded orange fleshed sweet potato. The feed efficiency ratiornincreased from 0.02 to 0.05, while the protein efficency ratiorndecreased 0.49 to 0.04 with increase in orange fleshed sweet potatornflour substitution. A high correlation coefficient(r=0.8) was observedrnbetween the fed intake and weight gain for the 28 days duration ofrnfeeding. The haematological properties result showed variations inrnHaemoglobin, packed cell volume, Red blood cell, Fasting blood sugarrnand white blood cell over the duration of 4 weeks. The blend withrn20% of malted millet based on weight gain and quality of hematologicalrnproperties is recommended for human consumption.

Keywords: Proximate, functional properties, vitamins, feed intake, weight gain