Development of a natural product rich in bioavailable OMEGA-3 DHA and EPA using locally available ingredients in Tanzania

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorCharles, Christina
dc.date.accessioned2020-11-25T11:40:56Z
dc.date.available2020-11-25T11:40:56Z
dc.date.issued2020-05
dc.descriptionA Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master’s in Life Sciences of the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technologyen_US
dc.description.abstractPoor mental health remains a serious public concern worldwide. The most vulnerable individuals are children and adolescents in developing countries. Nutritional deficiency of Omega-3 DHA and EPA has long been recognized as a major contributing factor for mental health illnesses. Provision of ready-to-use natural product rich in preformed Omega-3 DHA could address this problem. However, most commonly used products are expensive and contain less or no preformed Omega-3 DHA, making them less suitable for prevention of mental illnesses in resource-poor countries. The main objective of this study was to develop a natural product rich in preformed Omega-3 DHA and EPA from locally available ingredients. Linear programming (LP) was used to formulate a natural product rich in preformed Omega-3 DHA and other essential nutrients using locally available ingredients other than fish and dairy products. Laboratory analysis was then performed to validate the nutritional value of the LP-formulation using standard analytical methods. The relative difference between the LP tool calculated values and the laboratory-analysed values were calculated. Sensory testing was also done to evaluate consumer acceptance of the final product. Optimal formulation contained 220 mg of preformed Omega-3 DHA+EPA, enough to meet the RDI for children aged 2-10 years. The LP analysis further showed that the cost of present product is USD 0.15/100 g, which is 50% lower than that of Plumpy’nut. Laboratory analysis revealed similar results as that of LP at P=0.05. These findings indicate that readyto-use natural food rich in preformed DHA and EPA can be developed from locally available ingredients.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.58694/20.500.12479/1035
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherNM-AISTen_US
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/*
dc.subjectMicroalgaeen_US
dc.subjectMental healthen_US
dc.subjectPreformed Omega-3 DHAen_US
dc.subjectNutrient-based interventionen_US
dc.titleDevelopment of a natural product rich in bioavailable OMEGA-3 DHA and EPA using locally available ingredients in Tanzaniaen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

Files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
MSc_LiSe_Christina_Charles_2020.pdf
Size:
1.33 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Full text
Download

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
2 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

Masters Theses and Dissertations [LiSBE]