RESUMO
One of the most practical solutions to combat protein energy malnutrition (PEM) in low income groups is the intelligent mixing of cereals and legumes to make available low cost weaning foods of high nutritional quality. One of the main obstacles to increase energy and nutrient density of weaning foods of cereals and legumes is the bulk factor. In this study some simple methods of home processing to improve the nutritional quality of the home prepared weaning foods were tested and the processed weaning foods were chemically and biologically evaluated. Biochemical evaluation revealed that the germination of wheat raised its protein and fat and reduced carbohydrate, while ther was almost no change on lentils. Comparing germination with a special "chapati" process, protein and fat content wee higher in the formula processed by the former method, while minerals were higher in the same formula but processed by the latter method. Biological evaluation of the formula processed by the two different methods showed that germination got the highest PER and NPU compared with chapati process figures were (2.02 and 81.0) and (1.70 and 40.0) respectively. Although further research is needed, germination of ingredients of weaning foods of vegetable origin seems to be a good option of the simple home processing technique.
