Development of RTR enteral formula feed – A wholesome nutritional approach

Present study is an effort to formulate a wholesome Ready To Reconstitute (RTR) enteral formula feed, using natural food sources. For this purpose, non perishable (semolina, rice flakes, pearl millet, whole green gram, soybean, gingelly seed), perishable (spinach, carrot, lotus tem, aonla, banana) and other food samples (skimmed milk powder, powdered sugar, butter and oil) were selected and were subjected to the nutritional analysis by using the standard analytical techniques. Various trials of the processing techniques were carried out in the laboratory to make the selected food samples more digestible. All the processed food samples in dry powder form were mixed in specific amount to develop the enteral formula feed. The RDA of a reference man was taken as a basis to formulate the Standard Ready to reconstitute enteral formula feed. The nutritional composition of the developed standard enteral formula feed revealed energy content to be 2010.0 kcal, crude protein 75.0g, crude fat 65.0g, total carbohydrates 278.0g, crude fiber 12.0g, with sufficient micronutrient contentfrom total amount of 491g of feed. Reconstitution behaviour of the developed formula feed was analysed in terms of its flow rate (through ryle’s tube) and reconstitution time. The findings revealed reconstitution ratio of 1:3 (feed to water), to be the most appropriate for the developed standard feed with an average of 7 minutes of reconstitution time. The pH values of the developed feed was found to be 5.9. The packed pouches of the developed enteral formula feeds were stored for a duration of three months at room temperature and was assessed for its nutritional (moisture and peroxide value) and microbial quality (total viable count, coliform count and fungalcount) at 0, 30th, 60th and 90th day of storage. All findings of the tests inferred excellent shelf life quality of the developed enteral feed.