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. 2019 Jun 21;8(6):221.
doi: 10.3390/foods8060221.

Dynamic Oral Texture Properties of Selected Indigenous Complementary Porridges Used in African Communities

James Makame  1 , Tanita Cronje  2 , Naushad M Emmambux  3 , Henriette De Kock  4
Affiliations

Dynamic Oral Texture Properties of Selected Indigenous Complementary Porridges Used in African Communities

James Makame et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Child malnutrition remains a major public health problem in low-income African communities, caused by factors including the low nutritional value of indigenous/local complementary porridges (CP) fed to infants and young children. Most African children subsist on locally available starchy foods, whose oral texture is not well-characterized in relation to their sensorimotor readiness. The sensory quality of CP affects oral processing (OP) abilities in infants and young children. Unsuitable oral texture limits nutrient intake, leading to protein-energy malnutrition. The perception of the oral texture of selected African CPs (n = 13, Maize, Sorghum, Cassava, Orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP), Cowpea, and Bambara) was investigated by a trained temporal-check-all-that-apply (TCATA) panel (n = 10), alongside selected commercial porridges (n = 19). A simulated OP method (Up-Down mouth movements- munching) and a control method (lateral mouth movements- normal adult-like chewing) were used. TCATA results showed that Maize, Cassava, and Sorghum porridges were initially too thick, sticky, slimy, and pasty, and also at the end not easy to swallow even at low solids content-especially by the Up-Down method. These attributes make CPs difficult to ingest for infants given their limited OP abilities, thus, leading to limited nutrient intake, and this can contribute to malnutrition. Methods to improve the texture properties of indigenous CPs are needed to optimize infant nutrient intake.

Keywords: TCATA; complementary porridge; infant; malnutrition; oral processing; sensorimotor readiness; texture.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Temporal Check-All-That-Apply (TCATA) texture attribute curves for maize, sorghum, and cassava complimentary porridges (CPs) (10% solids). Attribute reference lines (represented as dotted lines in the figures) are shown only during periods of significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) in citation proportion for that porridge compared to the mean of all other CPs. Significant reference line segments are contrasted with highlighted thicker sections of attribute curves for convenient visualization. The letter A–F represent maize, sorghum and cassava CPs evaluated by the Normal and the Up-Down OP method respectively.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Temporal Check-All-That-Apply (TCATA) texture attribute curves for maize, sorghum, and cassava complimentary porridges (CPs) (10% solids). Attribute reference lines (represented as dotted lines in the figures) are shown only during periods of significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) in citation proportion for that porridge compared to the mean of all other CPs. Significant reference line segments are contrasted with highlighted thicker sections of attribute curves for convenient visualization. The letter A–F represent maize, sorghum and cassava CPs evaluated by the Normal and the Up-Down OP method respectively.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Temporal Check-All-That-Apply (TCATA) texture attribute curves for maize, sorghum, and cassava complimentary porridges (CPs) (10% solids). Attribute reference lines (represented as dotted lines in the figures) are shown only during periods of significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) in citation proportion for that porridge compared to the mean of all other CPs. Significant reference line segments are contrasted with highlighted thicker sections of attribute curves for convenient visualization. The letter A–F represent maize, sorghum and cassava CPs evaluated by the Normal and the Up-Down OP method respectively.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Smoothed Principal Component Analysis (PCA) product trajectory biplots show the evolution of attributes during oral processing for nine complimentary porridges (CPs) at 10% solids unless otherwise specified.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Smoothed Principal Component Analysis (PCA) product trajectory biplots show the evolution of attributes during oral processing for nine complimentary porridges (CPs) at 10% solids unless otherwise specified.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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