title: Women's and children's acceptance of biofortified quality protein maize for complementary feeding in rural Ethiopia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  For impact of nutritionally improved biofortified crops, consumer acceptance specifically by women and children is necessary when the target beneficiaries are young children. The objective was to assess women's and children's acceptance of a biofortified crop, quality protein maize (QPM), for complementary feeding in rural Ethiopia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Randomly sampled mothers (n = 61) of young children (6-24 months) evaluated flours from a QPM and a conventional maize variety for five sensory characteristics and overall acceptance by mother and child in a home use test with a double-blind, randomized controlled cross-over design. Women distinguished the varieties when used to prepare porridge, and QPM scored more favorably for texture in hand and mouth (both P < 0.05). The varieties did not differ in overall acceptance, which was, however, affected by order of presentation, mothers' number of children, and enumerators who collected data (all P < 0.05). Aroma and taste were key in mothers' acceptance, and appearance was further important for children. Women were more than twice as likely to prefer QPM over conventional maize.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Consumer acceptance is unlikely to impede uptake and impact of QPM on young children's nutritional status. Home use testing proved feasible for assessing acceptance in rural areas with food insecurity and limited education. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.
authors.affiliation: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Nilupa S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Gunaratna
authors.affiliation: Hawassa University, School of Nutrition, Food Science, and Technology, P.O. Box 5, Hawassa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Tafese
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bosha
authors.affiliation: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), P.O. Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Demissie
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Belayneh
authors.affiliation: Hawassa University, School of Nutrition, Food Science, and Technology, P.O. Box 5, Hawassa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Tigist
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fekadu
authors.affiliation: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), P.O. Box 2041-00621, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: De Groote
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000072759:Biofortification; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005002:Ethiopia; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D009035:Mothers; D009752:Nutritional Status; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012424:Rural Population; D012677:Sensation; D003313:Zea mays
chemical_list: D004044:Dietary Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins
keywords: Ethiopia; biofortification; complementary feeding; consumer acceptance; home use test; maize