Evaluation of the protein quality of rice supplemented with bean or crayfish in rats

Weanling male rats (45–60 g) were used to compare the supplemental effects to rice protein of bean or crayfish protein. Rats were fed various combinations of rice plus bean (B) or crayfish (C) to provide 1.6 g N/100 g of the daily diet for 28-day growth studies and a 7-day N balance period. Five different diets were fed. Six rats were assigned to each diet on the basis of body weight. Combinations of R:B of 80:20 and of R:C of 80:20 produced food intake, weight gain, PER, N intake, digested and retained N; and liver weight values that were comparable. However, increasing C to 30% of the dietary protein led to reduced value for food intake, weight gain, PER, N intake, digested and retained N, BV, NPU, and liver weight when compared with values obtained when B was increased to 30% (P<0.05). The results appear to indicate that, above a certain level of supplementation, brown bean protein is superior to crayfish as a supplement to rice protein.     

Studies on the effect of dry Sundakai (solanum torvum) powder supplementation on lipid profile,glycated proteins and amino acids in non-insulin dependent diabetic patients

The effect of dry Sundakai powder supplementation (7 g providing 1.23 g of crude fibre) on glycemic control, lipidemic control, total amino acids and uronic acid was studied on 30 non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus patients. All the patients were on hypoglycemic drugs. The above parameters were monitored at day 1, 15 and 30 days. After one month of fibre supplementation, no significant changes were observed with respect to glucose, lipid profile, glycated proteins, total amino acids and uronic acid levels in these subjects.     

The nutritive value of all-vegetable protein diets based on legume,cereal and tuber in weanling rats

Thirty albino weanling male rats (45–55 g) were divided into five groups of six rats each on the basis of body weight and fed combinations of dehulled brown beans (DBB); parboiled rice (R); and cassava meal (G) which provided 10% protein for 35 days. Casein served as the reference protein. Combinations of DBB (50–80%); with R (18–48%); and G (2%) produced varied effects on body weight, nitrogen (N) intake, N digestibility and retention, BV, liver weight and plasma albumin (P<0.05).The DBB:R:G (70:28:2) blend induced decreases in all the parameters tested except for the BV and PER values. The control group produced digested and retained N, protein efficiency ratio (PER), weight gain and liver weight that were significantly higher than for those of the test diets (P<0.05). These results appear to suggest that starchy foods when blended with legumes at low levels produced good quality protein comparable to casein.     

Protein quality of diets based on tuber,legume, and cereal in weanling rats

Weanling male rats (45–55 g) were studied to evaluate the protein quality of diets based on combinations of yam (YA); dehulled brown bean (DBB), dehulled white bean (DWB); and corn flour (PA) that provided 1.6 g N/100 g of diet. Casein served as the reference protein. Rats fed combinations of PA, DBB, and DWB had increases in food intake, weight gain, N intake, digested and retained N, and liver N compared to those of the casein control group and the other test groups (P < 0.05). Supplementation of YA with DBB or DWB reduced weight gain, protein efficiency ratio (PER), N intake, digested and retained N, NPU and liver N values of the animals when compared with those fed the casein and the other diets containing YA. Combinations of DBB or DWB with PA appear to be the best mixtures as shown by food and N intakes, digested and retained N, liver N, and weight gain. These mixtures may possibly be economic sources of N for weaning children where these are staples in the diet.     

Effect of coprophagy on bioavailability of iron from plant foods fed to anemic rats

Effects of coprophagy and coprophagy preventing device on iron bioavailability were evaluated in two experiments. In Experiment 1, rats were fed diets with FeSO₄, spinach, bran cereal or cornmeal as the iron source. The rats in each diet group were fitted with collars, sham-collars or not fitted with collars (control). In Experiment 2, rats were fed diets with FeSo₄ or green peas as the iron source and were fitted with collars, tail cups, sham-collars or not fitted with any device (control). Preventing coprophagy reduced hemoglobin regeneration efficiency (HRE) of rats fed bran cereal, green peas, spinach or cornmeal diets by 26 (P<.05), 24(P<.05), 22(P<.05) and 11% (not significant), respectively. Preventing coprophagy in rats fed FeSO₄ diet did not significantly reduce HRE. Sham-collaring reduced (P<.05) HRE of rats fed the FeSO₄ diet by 12 and 13% but did not significantly affect HRE in rats fed food iron sources. It was more convenient and effective to prevent coprophagy with collars than with tail cups. Differences in bioavailability between food and FeSO₄ iron due to coprophagy may be explained based on two gastrointestinal nonheme iron pools, complexed and highly soluble.     

Pancreatic and intestinal enzyme activities in rats in response to balanced and unbalanced plant diets

To simulate the effects of nutritionally adequate and inadequate vegetariandiets, rats were fed, for 28 days, an isonitrogenous, isocaloric, amino acidunbalanced cereal diet (CD) deficient in lysine and tryptophan or abalanced cereal-legume diet (CLD). The impact of these diets on enzymesresponsible for digestion of proteins and carbohydrates were measured.Neither experimental diet significantly affected the animal's final weight orfeed consumption in comparison with controls fed a standard mixed dietfrom plant and animal sources. However, during the first three weeks, theweight gain of rats fed the CD was significantly lower (p<0.01;p<0.05) than that of the controls. CD fed rats also had a higher feedefficiency ratio (p<0.05), demonstrating increased feed consumptionper unit of body weight. They also had decreased pancreatic-amylase activity (p<0.05), serum phytolytic and zoolytic-amylase activity (p<0.05) and serum protein level(p<0.05) than the controls. Activity of pancreatic trypsin and intestinalenzymes (sucrase, maltase, aminopeptidase N) were the same as in thecontrols. In rats fed CLD, growth, food consumption, and enzyme activitiesdid not change, however serum protein and glucose levels were higher(p<0.025; p<0.005) than in the controls. It is hypothesized thatdecrease in -amylase activity was mostly related to the tryptophandeficiency in the CD because this enzyme contains the highest amount oftryptophan units among all tested enzymes.     

Nutritional and biological evaluation of tobacco leaf protein concentrate

A tobacco leaf protein concentrate (TLPC) from bidi tobacco leaves was prepared by a heat coagulation method which contained 52% protein and was free from nicotine and polyphenols. When TLPC was fed to weanling wistar albino rats to supplement 25% of the dietary protein, the growth of the animals was found to be comparable to control animals. Reproductive performance of male and female rats fed the TLPC supplemented diet was normal and no histopathological changes were seen in their tissues.     

Nutritional assessment of seed proteins in rice bean [Vigna Umbellata (Thumb.) Ohwi and Ohashi

Seeds of three rice bean accessions had 17.26 to 21.42% protein, 3.46 to 4.03% fat, 61.09 to 64.73% carbohydrates 3.99 to 4.58% ash and 5.22 to 7.43% fiber (dry weight basis).The most limiting amino acids in the seed meal, albumin and globulin fractions, were methionine and cysteine with chemical scores of these fractions being 38% to 59%. The amino acid pattern of globulin and seed meal were similar.Thein vitro protein digestibility (IVPD) ranged from 82 to 86% for the seed meal, 86 to 88.5% for the albumin and 75.9 to 83.3% for the globulin. Relative nutritive values (RNV) of raw mature seed of two accessions were 22.6% and 42.4% and increased to 55.6% to 79.4% after boiling and roasting.Part of MS thesis of the senior author.     

Influence of sulfur-amino acid content variation in plant vs animal protein on serum and tissue lipids in rats

The objective of the study was to determine the effects of methionine and cysteine supplementation of soy protein isolate and casein on serum and tissue lipid levels in rats. Sixty male, weanling, Wistar-Kyoto rats were fed two sources of protein (casein or soy protein isolate) and three variations of sulfur-amino acid supplementation (none, methionine, or cysteine). At this level of protein intake (10% by weight), rats fed soy-based diets had similar serum lipid concentrations than rats fed casein-based diets. Choline was not added to the diet in order to be able to assess independent influences of methionine and cysteine on lipid metabolism. Overall, serum lipid values were greater in rats fed proteins supplemented with methionine while the addition of cysteine produced lower lipid levels. Liver lipid concentrations were increased tremendously upon cysteine supplementation of soy protein isolate. Protein quality, as determined by protein efficiency ratio, was improved by supplementation of either sulfur-amino acid; however, methionine had the greatest effect. Results indicate that the sulfur-amino acids influence lipid metabolism in the absence of dietary choline. The mechanism by which this occurs is not known.     

Iron status and growth of rats fed different dietary iron sources

The present study was carried out to investigate the availability of iron from spirulina, whole wheat, whole egg and standard ferrous sulphate in terms of haemoglobin formation, serum and tissue iron levels. Male albino Wistar rats were first depleted of iron by giving low-iron diet (9 ppm) and bleeding 1–2 ml blood at weekly intervals for a period of 21 days. The anaemic rats were repleted with iron sources at a level of 35 ppm for 21 days. Rats receiving whole egg gained significantly (p<0.01) higher weight than the rest of the three groups. The increase in haemoglobin was significantly higher with ferrous sulphate than with whole wheat (p<0.05), spirulina and whole egg (p<0.01). Feeding of ferrous sulphate, whole egg and spirulina produced significantly higher tissue iron levels than feeding of whole wheat. Thus, availability of iron from spirulina and whole egg were found to be comparable to that of the standard.     

Mineral utilization of malted sorghum and corn with added crayfish in rats

Forty adult rats were used to study the mineral balances of malted and unmalted wet- or dry-milled sorghum and corn combined with crayfish and fed rats for 12 days. Five out of the twelve days were for adjustment and the rest for balance period. These mixtures each was calculated to provide 1.6 g N daily for the entire study period. Malting and wet milling produced increases in crude protein content of the cereal grains. However, the increases were much more evident in sorghum. Wet milling caused increases in calcium retention in corn groups. It produced the same effect on phosphorus balance only in sorghum groups. On the other hand, it produced positive iron balances only in unmalted corn and malted sorghum groups. The results suggest improved mineral nutriture due to malting except for the Fe retention of the MDC:CR group.     

Amaranth seed proteins: Effect of defatting on extraction yield and on electrophoretic patterns

Acetone and hexane were used to know the effect of defatting amaranth flour on the extraction yield of protein fractions and on the electrophoretic patterns. It was found that albumins (33%) and globulins (20%) did not present yield changes when using these two solvents, but it was noted that with hexane compared to acetone, prolamins extraction was reduced by half (3.0 to 1.6%) whereas glutelins increased from 26.5 to 30%. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) patterns of prolamins extracted with acetone and hexane showed one band of low molecular weight (22 KDa) and five bands between 52 to 22 KDa, respectively. No electrophoretic changes were observed in the remaining fractions.     

Effects of roasting and storage on proteins and oil in peanut kernels

Peanut kernels, untreated or soaked in salt solution, were roasted at 160°C for 30 min in a hot air oven or oil roasted at 147°C for 2 min and, stored at 27°C and 5°C up to 150 days. The heat treatments significantly decreased methionine, tryptophan and in vitro protein digestibility (IVPD) and, increased the soluble proteins and acid value of kernel oil. Storage of heated peanuts caused an increase in water-soluble proteins, IVPD, acid value and saponification value and a decrease in methionine, tryptophan and iodine value. The oil roasting was found to be more detrimental to nutritional quality and storage stability of peanuts as compared to dry roasting. The storage of heated peanuts at 5°C was found to be beneficial in lowering the undesirable nutritional changes in the peanut kernels.     

Isolation and properties of lipolysis inhibitory proteins from wheat germ and wheat bran

Proteins inhibiting pancreatic lipasein vitro have been isolated from wheat germ and wheat bran, with relative molecular mass ranging from 24,400 to 27,500. Inhibition of pancreatic lipase by the wheat germ proteins is related to their ability to interact with the emulsified substrate and to hinder the adsorption of the enzyme on the interface. The extent of inhibition depends on the amount of substrate and is independent of the enzyme concentration. Bile salts forming micelles in the concentration range used are able to partially reverse the inhibition of pancreatic lipase by the wheat germ proteins. The nutritional significance of the data obtained is discussed.     

Globulin and albumin proteins in dehulled seeds of three Phaseolus vulgaris cultivars

Albumin and globulin fractions, obtained after modifications of the Osborne's fractionation scheme, were investigated in the seeds of three cultivars of Phaseolus vulgaris, after removal of the seed coats, to prevent interactions of tannins and phenols with the globulins. Also, by using an appropriate buffer to separate the globulins more efficiently, no cross-contaminations were observed in SDS-PAGE between these two fractions. The combination of these two procedures resulted in globulin to albumin ratios 70percnt higher than those published previously with the same cultivars. Amino acid compositions of total globulin, phaseolin and albumin fractions are presented. Whereas the albumins contained much more cysteine than the globulins, the concentrations of methionine were evenly distributed in these two fractions. Also, the bulk of methionine was found in phaseolin; cysteine was found in non-phaseolin proteins. In addition, the globulins contained unexpectedly high amounts of lysine.     

The effect of summer management of perennial ryegrass-dominant swards on plant and animal responses in the autumn when grazed by sheep. 2. Herbage intake and grazing behaviour

The effects on herbage intake and ingestive behaviour by ewes and weaned lambs of grazing aftermath and previously continuously grazed perennial ryegrass-dominant swards at two different sward heights (4 and 8 cm) in the autumn were studied. The experiment had a factorial design, was replicated twice and was conducted from mid-August to early November. There were six ewes and six weaned lambs per treatment plot and measurements were made in three periods. The effects of previous treatment of swards on herbage intake by ewes and weaned lambs were greatest in August, with herbage intakes being significantly lower on the aftermath swards. Differences disappeared by October. The lowest herbage intakes were obtained on the aftermath sward at the lowest sward height, with ewes being more affected under those conditions than lambs. Grazing time and biting rate increased with a reduction in sward height and were higher on aftermath swards. However, these increases did not compensate for reductions in estimated bite size on the aftermath swards. It was concluded that the effects of the sward management treatments in the summer on tissue turnover of the sward and herbage intake in the autumn were considerable in the early part of the autumn but had largely disappeared by the end of the autumn period.     

The effect of summer management of perennial ryegrass-dominant swards on plant and animal responses in the autumn when grazed by sheep. 1. Tissue turnover and sward structure

An experiment was conducted lo compare the effects of the grazing by ewes and weaned lambs on aftermath and previously continuously grazed perennial ryegrass-dominant swards, at two sward heights (4 and 8 cm) in (he autumn, on changes in structure and growth of the swards. The experiment had a factorial design, was replicated twice and was conducted from mid-August to early November with measurements being made on three occasions in the autumn. Aftermath swards had lower tiller population densities and lower herbage masses than those that had been previously continuously grazed, the differences being greatest in August. On an area basis net growth rates of herbage on aftermaths were lower than those on previously continuously grazed swards in August and September but not in October. Growth rates of herbage were higher on the taller sward, but the senescence rates were similar at the two sward heights. It was concluded that autumn swards may be managed at taller sward heights than summer swards without increasing senescence of the sward and a consequent reduction in efficiency of utilization. The effects of previous sward management on tissue turnover in the autumn were not long lasting.     

The genetics of gliadin and glutenin,the major storage proteins of the wheat endosperm

This paper reviews our present knowledge of the chromosomal location of the genes that control the synthesis of gliadins and glutenins, the two major groups of storage protein in the endosperm of wheat (Triticum aestivum). Allelic relationships and genetic linkage between genes are also discussed. The areas that require futher investigation are identified.     

Nutritive value of acetylated and hydrolysed rapeseed proteins in rats

Acetylated, hydrolysed and unmodified rapeseed proteins were compared to casein for nutritive value as determined by net protein ratio (NPR) and nitrogen apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC). The NPR and nitrogen ADC values of rapeseed proteins did not change significantly (P<0.05) after hydrolysis but decreased significantly (P<0.05) after 30% and 70% acetylation. Acetylation (30%) followed by protein hydrolysis decreased significantly (P<0.05) the NPR value but increased significantly (P<0.05) the nitrogen digestibility compared to the control and unmodified rapeseed proteins. Casein gave the highest value (P<0.05) for NPR and nitrogen ADC. Modification of rapeseed proteins significantly (P<0.05) decreased the nutritive value, and the effect was more pronounced with increasing level of acetylation.