Development and Nutritional Characterization of Pumpkin Seed- and Kidney Bean-Based Bars for Protein-Energy Malnutrition in Children
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background: Protein-energy malnutrition remains an important cause of impaired growth, increased susceptibility to infection, and adverse developmental outcomes in children. Nutrient-dense foods formulated from locally available plant ingredients may provide candidates for future nutritional interventions, provided their composition, safety, acceptability, and biological suitability are adequately characterized. Objective: To develop pumpkin-seed- and kidney-bean-based food bars and characterize their proximate composition, phenolic and flavonoid contents, and selected mineral concentrations. Methods: Four bar formulations were prepared using different quantities of kidney bean powder, pumpkin seed powder, honey, coconut oil, and dark chocolate. Moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, ash, total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, iron, calcium, zinc, and magnesium were determined using laboratory procedures described in the study. Nitrogen-free extract was recalculated by difference from the reported proximate means. Results: Protein increased across the reported formulations from 27.60% in T1 to 45.38% in T4, while fat decreased from 25.48% to 21.48%. Fiber increased from 2.06% to 5.04% and ash from 1.73% to 2.11%. Corrected nitrogen-free extract values were 40.87%, 34.37%, 28.99%, and 24.05% for T1–T4. Total phenolic content ranged from 19.79 to 59.80 mg GAE/100 g and total flavonoid content from 20.18 to 30.98 mg QE/100 g. T4 had the highest reported iron, calcium, zinc, and magnesium concentrations. Conclusion: Pumpkin-seed- and kidney-bean-based bars with high measured protein and mineral content were successfully formulated. T4 had the most nutrient-dense reported profile for several measured parameters, but therapeutic efficacy for childhood protein-energy malnutrition was not evaluated.
Article Details
Issue
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
References
1. Zhang X, Zhang L, Pu Y, Sun M, Zhao Y, Zhang D, et al. Global, regional, and national burden of protein-energy malnutrition: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study. Nutrients. 2022;14(13):2592. doi:10.3390/nu14132592.
2. Kumar R, Mahmood T, Naeem N, Khan SA, Hanif M, Pongpanich S. Minimum dietary diversity and associated determinants among children aged 6-23 months in Pakistan. Sci Rep. 2024;14(1):2639. doi:10.1038/s41598-024-51705-4.
3. Kirolos A, Goyheneix M, Eliasz MK, Chisala M, Lissauer S, Gladstone M, et al. Neurodevelopmental, cognitive, behavioural and mental health impairments following childhood malnutrition: a systematic review. BMJ Glob Health. 2022;7(7):e009330. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2022-009330.
4. Morales F, Montserrat-de la Paz S, Leon MJ, Rivero-Pino F. Effects of malnutrition on the immune system and infection and the role of nutritional strategies regarding improvements in children's health status: a literature review. Nutrients. 2024;16(1):1. doi:10.3390/nu16010001.
5. van Neerven RJJ. Macronutrients, micronutrients, and malnutrition: effects of nutrition on immune function in infants and young children. Nutrients. 2025;17(9):1469. doi:10.3390/nu17091469.
6. Javed F, Jabeen S, Sharif MK, Pasha I, Riaz A, Manzoor MF, et al. Development and storage stability of chickpea, mung bean, and peanut-based ready-to-use therapeutic food to tackle protein-energy malnutrition. Food Sci Nutr. 2021;9(9):5131-5138. doi:10.1002/fsn3.2479.
7. Potani I, Spiegel-Feld C, Brixi G, Bendabenda J, Siegfried N, Bandsma RHJ, et al. Ready-to-use therapeutic food containing low or no dairy compared to standard RUTF for children with severe acute malnutrition: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Adv Nutr. 2021;12(5):1930-1943. doi:10.1093/advances/nmab027.
8. Singh A, Kumar V. Pumpkin seeds as nutraceutical and functional food ingredient for future: a review. Grain Oil Sci Technol. 2024;7(1):12-29. doi:10.1016/j.gaost.2023.12.002.
9. Habiba U, Robin MA, Hasan MM, Toma MA, Akhter D, Mazumder MAR. Nutritional, textural, and sensory quality of bars enriched with banana flour and pumpkin seed flour. Foods Raw Mater. 2021;9(2):282-289. doi:10.21603/2308-4057-2021-2-282-289.
10. Hayat I, Ahmad A, Masud T, Ahmed A, Bashir S. Nutritional and health perspectives of beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.): an overview. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2014;54(5):580-592. doi:10.1080/10408398.2011.596639.
11. Zhang Z, Liu C, Wu S, Ma T. The non-nutritional factor types, mechanisms of action and passivation methods in food processing of kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.): a systematic review. Foods. 2023;12(19):3697. doi:10.3390/foods12193697.
12. Ohanenye IC, Ekezie FGC, Sarteshnizi RA, Boachie RT, Emenike CU, Sun X, et al. Legume seed protein digestibility as influenced by traditional and emerging physical processing technologies. Foods. 2022;11(15):2299. doi:10.3390/foods11152299.
13. AlJaloudi R, Al-Dabbas MM, Hamad HJ, Amara RA, Al-Bashabsheh Z, Abughoush M, et al. Development and characterization of high-energy protein bars with enhanced antioxidant, chemical, nutritional, physical, and sensory properties. Foods. 2024;13(2):259. doi:10.3390/foods13020259.
14. Imdad A, Rogner JL, Francois M, Ahmed S, Smith A, Tsistinas OJ, et al. Increased vs. standard dose of iron in ready-to-use therapeutic foods for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition in a community setting: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrients. 2022;14(15):3116. doi:10.3390/nu14153116.
15. AOAC International. Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC International. 22nd ed. Rockville, MD: AOAC International; 2023.
16. Michiu D, Socaciu MI, Fogarasi M, Jimborean AM, Ranga F, Muresan V, et al. Implementation of an analytical method for spectrophotometric evaluation of total phenolic content in essential oils. Molecules. 2022;27(4):1345. doi:10.3390/molecules27041345.
17. Nicolescu A, Bunea CI, Mocan A. Total flavonoid content revised: an overview of past, present, and future determinations in phytochemical analysis. Anal Biochem. 2025;700:115794. doi:10.1016/j.ab.2025.115794.
18. McCleary BV. Measurement of dietary fiber: which AOAC Official Method of Analysis to use. J AOAC Int. 2023;106(4):917-930. doi:10.1093/jaoacint/qsad051.
19. Chondrou T, Adamidi N, Lygouras D, Hirota SA, Androutsos O, Svolos V. Dietary phytic acid, dephytinization, and phytase supplementation alter trace element bioavailability-a narrative review of human interventions. Nutrients. 2024;16(23):4069. doi:10.3390/nu16234069.
20. Mendes APA, Bemfeito CM, Pereira RC, Candido GS, Carneiro JDS, Vilas Boas EVB, et al. Economic versus nutritional viability: evaluation of the antioxidant potential of food bars sources of proteins of different production costs. J Food Sci Technol. 2022;59(1):46-54. doi:10.1007/s13197-021-04977-x.