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Women's and children's acceptance of biofortified quality protein maize for complementary feeding in rural Ethiopia
Author(s) -
Gunaratilupa S,
Bosha Tafese,
Belayneh Demissie,
Fekadu Tigist,
De Groote Hugo
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.7526
Subject(s) - neophobia , taste , environmental health , medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , psychology , food science , biology , developmental psychology
Abstract BACKGROUND For impact of nutritionally improved biofortified crops, consumer acceptance specifically by women and children is necessary when the target beneficiaries are young children. The objective was to assess women's and children's acceptance of a biofortified crop, quality protein maize ( QPM ), for complementary feeding in rural Ethiopia. RESULTS Randomly sampled mothers ( n = 61) of young children (6–24 months) evaluated flours from a QPM and a conventional maize variety for five sensory characteristics and overall acceptance by mother and child in a home use test with a double‐blind, randomized controlled cross‐over design. Women distinguished the varieties when used to prepare porridge, and QPM scored more favorably for texture in hand and mouth (both P < 0.05). The varieties did not differ in overall acceptance, which was, however, affected by order of presentation, mothers' number of children, and enumerators who collected data (all P < 0.05). Aroma and taste were key in mothers' acceptance, and appearance was further important for children. Women were more than twice as likely to prefer QPM over conventional maize. CONCLUSION Consumer acceptance is unlikely to impede uptake and impact of QPM on young children's nutritional status. Home use testing proved feasible for assessing acceptance in rural areas with food insecurity and limited education. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry