Characteristics of Inulin-Enriched Instant Porridge and its Effectiveness to Increase Calcium Absorption in Infant Rat Models

This study developed an inulin-enriched instant porridge, an innovated product for complementary foods, prepared from modified cassava flour as the basic ingredient, and skim milk and tempeh flour as other accompanying ingredients. This mixture is fortified with micronutrient premix and enriched with inulin as a prebiotic aimed to increase calcium absorption in infants aged 6-24 months. This study’s research objectives were: (1) to assess the organoleptic characteristics of inulin-enriched instant porridge in relation to physical, chemical and micro-biological properties and responses; (2) to analyze the effectiveness of the instant porridge developed and aimed at increasing calcium absorption and deposition in the femur of protein-malnourished (PM) and protein-energy malnourished (PEM) infant rats. The research methods included: (1) instant porridge formulation with ratio of cooking water and pregelatinization time treatments; (2) organoleptic testing, physical, chemical, and microbiological properties; (3) product effectiveness test on infant rats with the following treatments: normal rats that were given purified diet (C), PM rats that were given purified diet and instant porridge fortified with micronutrient premix and enriched with inulin (PM+I), PM rats that were given purified diet and instant porridge without micronutrient premix fortification and without inulin enrichment (PM-I), PEM rats that were given purified diet and instant porridge fortified with micronutrient premix and enriched with inulin (PEM+I), and PEM rats that were given purified diet and instant porridge without micronutrient premix fortification and without inulin enrichment (PEM-I). The results showed that the best instant porridge using the index scoring method was the one with a 1:4 ratio of ingredients and cooking water and 4-minute pregelatinization time treatments with the following characteristics: 3.94 ml/g rehydration ability, 34.25% solubility, 3.41% moisture content, 1.65% ash content, 76.03% carbohydrates content, 10.59% protein content, 11.53% fat content, and 450.25 kcal/100 g energy density, 169x106 cfu/g Bifidobacterium longum content, and an organoleptic response of 4 based on the rating scale with “like slightly” criteria. Based on the femur matrix conditions and deposition of calcium content in the femur of C (37.85%), PM+I (28.02%), PM-I (21.60%), PEM+I (23.02%), and PEM-I (21.29%) rats, there was an increase in the deposition of calcium content in the femur of PM and PEM rats which consumed inulin-enriched instant porridge.