EFFECT OF SUBTITUTING MAIZE WITH ACHA (DIGITARIA EXILIS) IN WEANED ALBINO RATS FOOD IN COMPARISON WITH A COMMERCIAL INFANT FOODS ON REHABILITATION OF SEVERE MALNUTRITION

Abstract

At the age of six months and above breast milk is not sufficient to meet the nutritional needs of the growing infant. Single cereal usually forms the food for infant without fortification with denser ingredients. This paper aimed at determining the effect of substituting maize with acha (Digitaria exilis) in weaned albino rats’ food in comparison with a commercial infant food on rehabilitation of severe malnutrition. Two foods were formulated by substituting the content of maize at 0% and 50% which were designated as T1 and T2 respectively. O% maize as control. Another control was with a standard commercial infant food coded as CFC and was designated as T3. Sixty 4 weeks old albino rats were used and were randomly divided into 3 groups. Each group had 20 rats with 4 replicates of 5 rats. They were supplied with feed and water all the time. The experiment lasted for 4 weeks. The rats had similar loss of weight after fed with depleted protein food for weeks’ period. The rats’ live weight and daily gain after fed with protein rich foods for another 2 and 4 weeks were significantly different (p<0.05). Rats fed T2 and T3 had similar live weight (110.10±5.69 and 113.05±5.69g respectively) and higher than those fed T1 (102.37±5.69g). however, at 4 weeks feeding with protein rich foods, the rat fed T2 had the highest live weight (186.00±5.00g) while those fed T1 had lowest (176.37±5.00g). again, rats fed T2 had the highest daily weight gain (6.64±0.18g) while those fed T1 had lowest (6.29±0.18g). also feed consumption was also significantly different (p<0.05). rats fed T1 had higher total feed intake and daily feed intake, whereas T2 and T3 had similar and lower. Again, T2 had the best feed conversion ratio (1.57±0.11) followed by T3 (1.61±0.11) while T3 had poor (1.78±0.11). The better feed conversion ratio in T2 than T1 further suggests the better nutrient composition in mixed cereals grains than a single grain. All the organs, haematology and serum biochemical parameters studied were not significantly different (p>0.05). It can be concluded that acha can replace maize in infant weaning foods by 50% without negative effects on rats.