Ms. Shruti Bhatt will be presenting her Pre-synopsis as per the following details:

Date: Thursday, 12th February 2025,

Time: 1100 – 1230 hrs.

Venue: C-TARA Conference Room No.1

Title: Formulation, Sequential Processing, and Evaluation of a Plant-Based Fortification Powder to Address Childhood Undernutrition in India

Guide: Prof. Satish B. Ahnihotri, Prof. Amit Arora

RPC Members: Prof. Parmeshwar Udmale, Prof. K V Venkatesh

Abstract:

Childhood undernutrition continues to be a critical public health challenge in India, with millions of children experiencing growth faltering, micronutrient deficiencies, and developmental delays despite overall improvements in food availability. Hidden hunger, driven by chronic deficiencies of essential vitamins and minerals despite seemingly adequate caloric intake, remains a pervasive but often invisible burden among Indian children, undermining growth, immunity and neurocognitive development. Addressing this complex challenge requires context-appropriate product development that goes beyond single-nutrient supplementation to deliver dense, bioavailable nutrition in forms that fit seamlessly into local food cultures, are affordable at scale, and acceptable to both children and caregivers over the long term. Within this framework, Sprinkler was conceptualized as an all‑natural, plant‑based nutritional formulation specifically designed for undernourished young children.

Sprinkler is a ready‑to‑use, vegan sprinkle that can be added to commonly consumed cooked foods without altering taste or eating habits, thereby integrating into routine diets with minimal behaviour change. The formulation provides a balanced profile of macronutrients for growth and energy, along with type II micronutrients, essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, choline, folate and other bioactive compounds, with demonstrated high bioavailability. Systematic optimization of processing conditions was undertaken to reduce key antinutritional factors inherent to plant-based ingredients, including phytic acid, tannins, trypsin inhibitors and phytoestrogens, with concomitant improvement in mineral bioaccessibility and bioavailability indices. Mineral bioavailability was evaluated using in vitro solubility, dialyzability and Caco‑2 cell models, and Sprinkler showed superior cellular uptake of iron, zinc, calcium and magnesium compared to a panel of existing commercial products formulated for children. Comprehensive safety assessment confirmed the absence of common allergens, harmful chemical residues and heavy metal contamination, while microbiological and physicochemical analyses established a stable shelf life of at least one year under ambient storage. Sensory and consumer studies involving mother–child pairs demonstrated high acceptability of Sprinkler‑fortified recipes, with strong preference over non‑fortified counterparts on appearance, taste, texture and overall liking, indicating feasibility for community-level adoption. A techno‑economic analysis evaluated scalability, cost structures and potential price points within public health and low‑income household settings, showing that local sourcing and decentralized production can maintain affordability while ensuring quality. Taken together, this research establishes Sprinkler as a safe, nutritionally dense, highly bioavailable and organoleptically acceptable food‑based intervention with strong potential for integration into national and state nutrition programmes targeting moderate and mild undernutrition in early childhood.