Water and Microbial Contents in Moringa Oleifera Seed Flour as Food Supplement to Prevent Stunting.

Nowadays, stunting is one of the main focuses of the national development priorities in the health sector. The prevalence of stunting in Indonesia is 30.7% (Riskesdas, 2018) and the prevalence is above tolerance by WHO, which is ≤ 20%. According to the results of the South East Asia Nutrition Surveys (SEANUTS, 2017), around 24.1% of boys and 24.3% of girls in Indonesia are stunting. The prevalence of stunting in West Sulawesi Province is 38.2%, the second-highest in Indonesia, and the District of Mamuju at 47.26% based on the results of Monitoring Nutrition Status in 2017. One of the efforts to prevent stunting is developed food products, such as the potential of Moringa Oleifera seeds as a supplement for children and will be developed into PMT for children under five. As basic research, the aim of this study was to analyze water and microbe contents of Moringa Oleifera seeds flour and cookies with Moringa Oleifera seeds flour substitutions of 10% and 15%. This research is Randomized design by grouping the experimental units into homogeneous groups. The manufacture of flour and Moringa Oleifera seeds cookies was carried out in the laboratory of Health Polytechnic of Mamuju and the examination of water and microbe contents was carried out at the Makassar Health Laboratory Center. Water and microbial contents of Moringa Oleifera seeds flour and cookies with 10% and 15% substitution of Moringa Oleifera seeds flour were in accordance with SNI standards. Further research is needed to analyze the effect of complementary food with substitution of Moringa Oleifera seeds flour on the nutritional status of children under five. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]