Abstract
The optimum conditions for malting barley and chickpea were standardized, and a malted weaning food (MWF) formulation was prepared by blending 48-hour germinated barley and 24-hour germinated chickpea flours. Decorticated barley was mixed with 7% additional water, tempered for four hours, and popped in hot sand medium. Popped barley was mixed with popped chickpea to formulate popped weaning food (PWF). Flours from decorticated and mild toasted barley and chickpea were mixed with water and the slurry was roller dried to prepare the roller-dried weaning food (RWF). The food formulations consisted of 60% processed barley, 30% chickpea, 5% skim milk powder, and 5% cane sugar. Popped and roller-dried weaning foods were mixed with 5% malted barley flour to prepare the low-dietary-bulk formulations of popped weaning food with malt (PWFM) and roller-driea weaning food with malt (RWFM). The protein content of the formulations ranged from 14.8% to 15.6%. The viscosity of the cooked paste of MWF, MWFM, and RWFM, was much lower than that of DWF and RWF at all comparable slurry concentrations. The energy content of the gruels of MWF, MWFM, and RWFM at spoon-feeding consistency was about 1.1 kcal/g. The protein efficiency ratio (2.6–3.1), biological value (93–97), true digestibility (85–87), and net protein utilization (79–84) of the formulations indicated good growth-promoting quality of the food proteins.