**3.2 Sensory evaluation and acceptability of vegetable leaf-fortified weaning food**

The evaluated sensorial quality attributes were taste, color, flavor appearance, and acceptability. We engaged 100 participants comprising nursing parents, elderly, and university undergraduates who currently utilize maize porridge as weekly meals

*Potential of Indigenous Vegetable-Fortified Food Products for Improved Human Nutrition… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.105996*

during the sensory evaluation of the cooked vegetable leaf-fortified weaning food. For all the evaluated sensory parameters, the samples without the addition of leaf extracts were the most acceptable. This was also observed by Aminigo and Akingbala [23] for non-supplemented maize *ogi* samples. It was however observed that the preference for the fortified *ogi* samples ranged from *liked moderately* to *liked slightly*. The maize porridge samples with the inclusion of 10 ml vegetable leaf extract (10 ml of leaf extract to 100 g of *ogi* slurry) were the most preferred among the fortified samples.

With increased inclusion of vegetable leaf extract to maize porridge from 10 to 100 ml, the preferences of the samples for taste, color, flavor, texture, appearance, and general acceptance were observed to significantly (*P* < 0.05) reduce, though within the acceptance range of hedonic scales for sensory analysis. This same trend was reported by Abioye and Aka [18] for moringa fortified maize porridge and Aminigo and Akingbala [18] for okra fortified maize porridge. There were however no significant differences on all the evaluated sensory parameters between the inclusion of 25, 50, and 75 ml of vegetable leaf extract in maize porridge samples. Based on all the sensory parameters, it was further observed that the samples with the incorporation of 100 ml vegetable leaf extract to maize porridge were *neither liked* nor *disliked* by the panelists. It is noteworthy that the addition of vegetable leaf extract to the popular weaning food did not result in rejection of the products by the sensory panelists. However, the better acceptability of the non-fortified product is suspected to be due to the age-long preference and adaption to it, while the change in the color and taste of the fortified products reduced the degree of acceptability. However, a rigorous system of advocacy and awareness creation about the food value of the vegetable leaf extract-fortified weaning food is expected to promote better adoption and utilization of the products by the populace.
