Mineral contents of Nigerian grains and baby foods

Abstract Maize (Zea mays), sorghum (Sorghum vulgare), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata Walp) and soya beans (Glycine max) are available locally in Nigeria. Their suitability for use in the preparation of baby foods was assessed by comparing their content of a range of minerals with that of a number of imported baby foods. The iron content of the baby foods ranged between 57 and 82 μg g −1 , which was similar to the range in the foodstuffs, 49 to 201 μg g −1 . Calcium, however, was much lower in the foodstuffs, 22‐1300 compared with the baby foods, 4100‐8600 μg g −1 .