Nutritional evaluation of some commercial wheat varieties grown in Pakistan

The nutritive value of some commercial wheat varieties grown in Pakistan was measured chemically, including amino acid analysis, and biologically in N-balance experiments with growing rats. The protein content ranged from 13.2% in Punjab-83 to 16% in Barani-83. Lysine per 100g protein varied between 2.46 and 2.75%. The available carbohydrate ranged from 67.3 to 74.7%. Iron content was highest in Sonalika while the concentration of zinc and manganese was highest in Sarhad-82. The protein digestibility (TD), biological value (BV) and net protein utilisation (NPU) varied between 92–95%, 56–68% and 53–65% respectively. Level of wheat protein was negatively correlated with available carbohydrate (r=–0.93), lysine per unit protein (r=–0.67) and BV (r=–0.76). The lysine content (g/16gN) of commercial wheat varieties showed a positive correlation (r=+0.95) with the BV. The protein quality was lowered in varieties having higher content of protein.