American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 22, 577-587, Copyright © 1969 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Dietary Protein Quality in Infants and Children

II. Metabolic Studies with Cottonseed Flour

¹ From: Grace Department of Research, British American Hospital, Lima, Peru and Departments of Pediatrics, Baltimore City Hospitals and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Nitrogen-balance studies in convalescent malnourished infants and children have been used to determine the apparent biological value of the protein in a number of cottonseed flours. A "glandless" CSF proved to approximate most closely the value of milk protein. Cottonseed flour prepared by azeotropic solvent extraction was next in apparent quality and a CSF prepared by heat processing and screw-press extraction gave the poorest results. Cottonseed flour prepared in Peru by combining wet cooking and hexane extraction of a relatively low gossypol variety was no better than this last product. The "gland-less" CSF, if used as the main or only source of protein in the diets of infants and children, should provide 8-10% of calories as protein. For the solvent-extracted CSF, a minimum of 10% protein calories seems indicated and for the heat-press extracted CSF, 12% protein calories. These results indicate that both the origin of CSF and the manner of its processing have important effects on the nutritive value of its protein. They suggest that at appropriate levels, a properly processed CSF can be the main or only source of protein in the diets of infants and children. Prolonged feeding trials are necessary to confirm or deny these observations.