Formula optimization approach for an alternative Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food

Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) is an energy-dense, micronutrient-enriched paste used for the Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) in under-five children of low-income countries. Alternative recipes have to reach a decrease of production costs and the use of local staple ingredients, enforcing quality and acceptability of the product. This work consisted on an alternative RUTF formula optimization, with the aim to have a set of optimized creams suitable for child feeding, based on local and cheap ingredients. A response surface D-optimal design was carried out, adopting United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) constraints for RUTF formula. The creams showed a time-independent pseudoplastic behavior with n and K in the range 0.38–0.45 and 35–110 Pa∙sn, respectively. The Particle Size Distribution (PSD) curves, as determined by laser diffractometry, were mainly unimodal, with 90% percentiles (D90) varying from 40 to 140 μm. Response variables better explained through chosen models were D90 and K parameter. Thanks to formula optimization approach it has been verified that the consistency and the particle size are strongly affected by the ingredient formulation. The best formulation of model RUTF was found, through the desirability function, imposing as constraints the minimization of both D90 and K index.