American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 16, 321-322, Copyright © 1965 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Amino Acid Supplementation of Protein Concentrates as Related to the World Protein Supply

¹ From the Merck Institute for Therapeutic Research Rahway, New Jersey, and UNICEF, New York, New York

Since the protein intake in the cassava/banana/yam-eating segments of the world population is neither adequate in quantity nor quality, in most cases the nutritional value of protein concentrates will not be greatly affected by the protein content of the remainder of the diet. For this reason it is important to know whether the quality of the available protein concentrates can be improved by amino acid supplementation. The present study shows that use of three amino acids, lysine, threonine and methionine, singly or in combination, will upgrade the quality of the oil seed proteins to values approaching or equal to that of a high quality animal protein, casein. Accordingly, although fish protein concentrates and properly processed oil seed protein products would be beneficial in relation to the protein malnutrition in the cassava/banana/yam-eating areas of the world, amino acid supplementation of the seed protein products would make them more effective. Protein concentrates, in many cases, would be effective supplements of cereal-based diets but, since a large part of the protein would be supplied by the cereal used, such diets should be evaluated as a whole.