10 AgriHealth: Journal of Agri-food, Nutrition and Public Health. 5(1), 10-20, 2024 URL: https://jurnal.uns.ac.id/agrihealth/article/view/79364 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20961/agrihealth.v5i1.79364 ISSN 2722-0656 (Print) 2722-0648 (Online) Copyright © 2024 Universitas Sebelas Maret Nutritional Compositions and Sensory Evaluation of Fermented Maize and Millet Fortified with Crayfish and Soybeans for the Production of Infant Food Mosunmola Aderonke Ilemobayo 1 and Kikelomo Jennifer Kone 2 1 Department of Microbiology, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Nigeria; 2 Department of Science Laboratory Technology, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Nigeria Received: October 6, 2023; Accepted: January 28, 2024 Abstract Despite the reported improvement in the nutrient status of fermented cereal-based diets in Sub-Saharan Africa, the nutrient needs of infants are still not being met. Hence, this study evaluated the nutritional compositions of fermented protein-fortified cereals. The proteins used in fortifying maize and millet were crayfish (30%), soybeans (30%) and a combination of both protein sources in a ratio of 70:15:15 for cereals, crayfish and soybeans, respectively. Fermentation of protein-fortified cereals was carried out using submerged fermentation for 5 days. Results revealed that fortifying maize and millet with crayfish and soybeans increased the protein content (11.1 to 19.1%). The fortification led to a reduction in crude fiber and carbohydrate contents of raw maize and millet. Fermentation also significantly reduced the carbohydrate content, with the lowest carbohydrate value observed on the last day of fermentation. Fortification with crayfish and fermentation increased all the minerals (potassium, magnesium and calcium) of raw maize and millet, but no significant effect at p < 0.05 on the iron content. All the samples that were fortified had better sensory acceptability than those that were not fortified. This study revealed that fermentation and fortification of maize and millet meal (cereal) with soybeans and crayfish can alleviate protein energy malnutrition (PEM) problems. Keywords: cereals; fermentation; fortification; nutritional-composition; protein INTRODUCTION The agricultural sector, which is concerned with cultivating the soil for growing crops and raising livestock, has been described as having an important role in human health as it is believed that agriculture can be linked with poor health (Hawkes and Ruel, 2007). It is also to be noted that the agricultural sector of any economy does provide strength to the health sector in terms of nutrition (Tenriawaru et al., 2022). Meanwhile, cereals are essential sources of the world’s food supply, as their role in the human diet worldwide is vital. In light of this, the significant cereals contributing to the diet are rice, barley, maize,  Corresponding author: jkone@unimed.edu.ng Cite this as: Ilemobayo, A. M., & Kone, K. J. (2024). Nutritional Compositions and Sensory Evaluation of Fermented Maize and Millet Fortified with Crayfish and Soybeans for the Production of Infant Food. AgriHealth: Journal of Agri-food, Nutrition and Public Health, 5(1), 10-20. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.20961/ agrihealth.v5i1.79364 wheat, sorghum, oat and millet (Mridula and Sharma, 2015). Millets and maize are important sources of nutrients and indispensable food for millions of people in developing countries such as Africa (Goredema-Matongera et al., 2021; Hassan et al., 2021). These cereals are important ecological food security crops known for their nutritional quality (Akplo et al., 2023; Novotny et al., 2023) and they can be used for dual purposes (feeding man and animals). This group of cereal crops has significant potential to widen the genetic diversity in the food basket to ensure improved food and nutrition security (Filli et al., Journal of Agri-food, Nutrition and Public Health