PROTEIN-QUALITY OF WEANING BABY FOOD FROM AFRICAN WHITE-FLESHED SWEET-POTATO VARIETIES AND APIOS-AMERICANA WITH PIGEON PEAS ADDED AS A COMPLEMENTARY PROTEIN

White sweetpotatoes (Ipomoea batatas P)Lam) are a major food crop in A frica. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the protein quality of various white fleshed African sweetpotatoes and Apios americana tu bers for use as a baby weaning food. Puree was processed from four whi te fleshed sweetpotato varieties and Apios each mixed with pigeon peas (Cajanus cajan) added as a complementary protein source. The sweetpot atoes and apios had a protein content ranging from 4.26 to 8.23 percen t on dry weight basis. These were formulated into a baby food intended for a one year old baby in 60:40 ratio, with pigeon peas (a legume) a dded to raise the protein content to 10% for Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER) studies. The diets were fed to 6 groups of rats, 10 rats/diet. P ER was found to range from 1.57 to 1.92 compared to a PER for casein o f 2.5, indicating significant differences (P< 0.05) in protein quality among the different sweetpotato varieties and apios. The data, howeve r, indicates that one variety (T1702) of white sweetpotatoes would be suitable for formulating weaning food, due to a higher protein content and higher protein quality.