American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 23, 1169-1174, Copyright © 1970 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Utilization by Young Women of Peanut Flour Equalized to the FAO Pattern

¹ Associate Professor of Nutrition, Department of Food, Nutrition and Institution Administration, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
² Research Assistant, Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station, College Park

A study of 10 young women was conducted to compare the utilization of peanut flour with 5:1 casein-lactalbumin. These proteins were supplemented with crystalline essential amino acids to the FAO pattern and with nonessential amino acids in the milk pattern. Each subject received 0.064 g nitrogen/kg body wt. In a 7-day preliminary period beef was the primary protein source. During the following 20-day experimental period a crossover statistical design was used. Subjects were separated into two groups by random selection. One group consumed peanut flour and the remainder casein-lactalbumin for the first 10 days. In the second 10 days the proteins were reversed. The criteria of utilization were nitrogen balance and the level of urea and ammonia nitrogen excretion. A significantly lower nitrogen retention resulted when subjects consumed peanut flour as compared to casein-lactalbumin. This study showed an impaired utilization of peanut flour nitrogen as evidenced by nitrogen balance. Nitrogen balance data indicated that digestion and absorption of total nitrogen in peanut flour was not impaired, but these data do not reveal the effect on individual amino acids. The trend to a larger excretion of urinary ammonia nitrogen during the peanut flour diet could be due to faulty digestion, absorption, or intermediary metabolism of a specific amino acid with an increase in an unbalanced pattern of amino acids in the tissues producing an increased ammonia excretion. No differences in urinary urea nitrogen were observed.