Biological evaluation for protein quality of supplementary foodsbased on popped cereals and legumes suitable for feeding rural mothers andchildren in India

Eight different formulations of supplementary foods (FS) based on poppedcereals (wheat, ragi, bajra and sorghum) and legumes (soy and bengalgram)were prepared. Four of the FS were produced with cereals, soy flour (SF)and bengalgram (BG) dhal and the other four were prepared with combinationsof cereals and SF. These blends were evaluated for food efficiency ratio(FER), protein efficiency ratio (PER) and net protein utilization (NPU)using growing albino rats. Skim milk powder (SMP, standard reference protein)was used in the control diet. In general the FER (0.28 to 0.34), PER (2.7to 2.9) and NPU (62 to 68) results of the FS were not significantly (p>0.05)different among the FS groups or compared with FER (0.36), PER (3.0) and NPU(73.5) of the control SMP. It is evident from the results that all eight FSwere nutritionally and biologically as good as SMP with regard to proximatecomposition, PER and NPU.     

Nutritional Status of the Protein of Corn-Soy Based Extruded Products Evaluated by Rat Bioassay

A rat bioassay was conducted to preclinically evaluate nutritional quality of two supplementary foods (SFs) developed based on corn and soy blends for feeding preschool children. The SFs prepared by extrusion cooking and subsequently modified to taste either sweet or salty provide 395 ± 2 kcal of energy and 20 ± 2 g protein per 100 g of food. The proximate constituents and energy contents of SFs were within the ranges prescribed for processed weaning foods and could satisfactorily meet the requirements of preschool children. Groups of male weanling rats were fed SFs for 4 weeks to evaluate the protein quality. The body weight gain of rats fed with SFs were significantly higher than those fed with skimmed milk powder (SMP) diet as control. The protein efficiency ratio and net protein utilization results of SFs were not significantly different (p>0.05) from values of control group. It is inferred that these SFs were nutritionally comparable to SMP.     

Long-term consumption of beef extended with soy protein by men,women and children: I. Study design,nutrient intakes,and serum zinc levels

The effect of long-term consumption, under practical conditions, of beef extended with soy protein on serum zinc levels of men, women and children was studied. Fifty-two families were randomly assigned to consume for 180 days 1 of 7 beef products: all beef, beef extended with either soy isolate, soy concentrate or soy flour (20% reconstituted soy product, 80% beef), or beef extended with each of the 3 soy products fortified with 60 mg Fe and 25 mg Zn/100g protein. The beef product was consumed by the subjects as their principal source of protein for 1 meal a day (children 1–8 yrs) or 1–2 meals a day (11 per week) for adult men and women. A control group consumed their usual self-selected diet. Diet records (4-day) of all foods and beverages consumed by the subjects were obtained pre-study and 63±7 and 126±7 days for calculation of nutrient intakes. No deleterious effects were found on the serum zinc levels when subjects consumed beef extended with soy protein for 180 days.Mention of a trademark or proprietary product does not constitute a guarantee or warranty of the product by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and does not imply its approval to the exclusion of other products that may also be suitable.     

Development,nutritive content and shelf life of home processed supplementary foods

Four low cost supplements containing whole wheat, pearl millet, bengal gram, green gram grain and amaranth leaves employing roasting and malting methods were developed. Nutritional evaluation showed that chemical composition of developed supplements was within the range prescribed for processed supplements and could meet satisfactorily one third requirements of protein, energy, iron and calcium for young children. Developed supplements were stored in three packings, polythene bags, tins with lids, glass bottle with lids (each 1 kg capacity, under ambient temperature (24–32°C) and RH (70–80%) for a period of 30 days and analysed for moisture, peroxide value, fat acidity and alcoholic acidity. Stored samples were also evaluated organoleptically. The values of moisture, peroxide value, fat acidity and alcoholic acidity of stored samples were within the range of prescribed specifications for processed supplements. Storage of supplements for 30 days resulted in non-significant changes in organoleptic traits except for taste and aroma of bajra based supplements on 20th and 30th day of storage. In spite of these variations, all the supplements were found to be acceptable till 30th day of storage.     

Shelf life of weaning foods developed from locally available food stuffs

Four weaning foods were formulated using locally available cereals and pulses such as wheat (Triticum aestivum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), green gram (Vigna radiata) and jaggery. Cereal, pulse and jaggery were used in the proportion of 70:30:25. Roasting and malting were two processing techniques used. The developed weaning foods were evaluated for their nutritional characteristics and shelf life. All the formulations had a nutrient composition within the range prescribed by the Indian Standard Institute (ISI) for processed weaning foods. Peroxide value and fat acidity of weaning foods increased with increase in storage period. Malting of weaning foods resulted in higher increase of peroxide value and fat acidity as compared to roasted ones during the period of storage. All the blends were found to be acceptable up to 60 days of storage. The results, indicated that weaning foods developed from locally available less inexpensive foods may be used as good supplements for infants.     

In vitro starch and protein digestibility and iron availability in weaning foods as affected by processing methods

In the present investigation, four weaning foods were formulated using locally available cereals and pulses such as wheat (Triticum aestivum), barley (Hordeum vulgare) and green gram (Vigna radiata). Cereal, pulse and jaggery were used in the proportion of 70:30:25. Domestic processing technique like roasting and malting were used to process cereals and pulses for development of weaning foods. All the four blends had a nutrient composition within the range prescribed by the Indian Standard Institute (ISI) for processed weaning foods. The processing of grains resulted in 16–20% increase in starch digestibility and 17–32% increase in protein digestibility. Also 16–32% increase in iron availability was observed on processing. The effect was more remarkable in malted weaning foods as compared to roasted ones.     

Protein quality of weaning foods based on locally available cereal and pulse combination

Locally available cereals and pulses such as rice (Oryza sativa), kangini (Setaria italica), sanwak (Echinochloa frumentacea), green gram (Vigna radiata) and jaggery were used to formulate three weaning foods. Cereal, pulse and jaggery were mixed in the ratio of 70:30:25. Roasting was the main processing technique used in the formulation of these weaning foods. The developed weaning foods had 5.06 to 5.68 g moisture, 10.28 to 13.71 g protein, 2.91 to 3.77 g ash, 1.08 to 1.87 g fat, 14.42 to 14.98 mg iron, 1.03 to 1.27 g crude fibre, and 357 to 374 Kcal. The weaning foods had a nutrient composition within the range prescribed by the Indian Standard Institute for processed weaning foods. The study indicated that the weaning foods obtained from locally available food stuffs have the potential of being produced locally, adaptable for household consumption and can be good substitute for commercial formulae.     

Peanut as a source of protein for human foods

Peanut has traditionally been used as a source, of oil; however, its worldwide annual protein harvest has reached nearly 4.5 million tons. India followed by China and the United States are the major producers of peanut. In recent years, several cereals and legumes-based foods using peanuts as protein supplements have been developed to alleviate protein caloriesmalnutrition problem. Peanut in the form of flour, protein isolates, and meal in a mixed product have been found to be very desirable from a sensory quality point of view. Peanut protein is deficient with respect to certain essential amino acids, but its true digestibility is comparable with that of animal protein. Even though various processing methods influence the nutritional and sensory quality of peanut fortified human foods available information on these aspects have been reviewed and summarised in this paper in order to optimize the utilization of peanut protein to increase protein value of cereal-based foods in developing countries of the peanut growing regions, of the world.     

Long-term consumption of beef extended with soy protein by men,women and children: II. Effects on iron status

The iron status of men, women and children consuming beef extended with soy protein was evaluated by measuring serum ferritin and clinical parameters of iron status during a six-month study. Fifty-two families (245 participants) were randomly assigned to consume, for 180 days, 1 of 7 beef products: all beef, beef extended with either soy isolate, soy concentrate or soy flour (20% reconstituted soy product, 80% beef), or beef extended with each of the three soy products fortified with 60 mg Fe and 25 mg Zn/100 g protein. The beef product was consumed by the subjects as their principal source of protein for 1 meal a day (children 1–18 yr) or 1–2 meals a day (11 per week; adult men and women). A control group consumed their usual self-selected diets. No evidence was found that consumption of beef extended with soy protein deleteriously affected the iron status of men, women or children. Consumption of beef extended with soy protein, at the levels used in this study, by military men and women and by school lunch participants would not appear to impose a risk in these population groups.     

Maillard Reaction Evaluation by Furosine Determination During Infant Cereal Processing

The furosine content of infant cereals has been used to evaluate the thermal damage caused to those foods during their manufacture (toasting, amylolysis and drying steps). The mean furosine contents of raw and toasted flours were 13·7 and 13·8 mg/100 g of protein, respectively. The furosine content increased to 47·3 mg/100 g of protein after hydrolysis usingalpha-amylase. The amylolysis process raised the reducing sugar content from 0·5% for raw samples to 12·7%. The furosine content of infant cereals rose to average levels of 500 mg/100 g of protein after roller-drying. The infant cereals with the highest levels of reducing sugars, with or without soy flour, exhibited the highest furosine contents. Furosine is a useful indicator to evaluate the progress of the Maillard reaction during the amylolysis and roller-drying stages of infant cereals manufacture.     

Improvement in HCl-extractability of minerals in home made weaning foods

Three weaning foods were formulated from locally available cereals and pulses such as rice (Oryza sativa), kangini (Setaria italica), sanwak (Echinochloa frumentacea), green gram (Vigna radiata) and jaggery. Cereals and pulses were mixed in the proportion of 7:3. Nutrient composition of developed weaning foods was within range prescribed by Indian Standard Institute and was found to be acceptable. Roasting was the processing technique employed in developing weaning foods which resulted in significant increase in HC1-extractable minerals, an index of their bioavailability to humans. The higher HC1-extractability of the minerals may be ascribed to the decreased phytic acid in the processed home made weaning foods.     

Digestibility of protein and amino acids in selected foods as determined by a rat balance method

Values (%) for true digestibility of crude protein and individual amino acids in 20 selected foods were determined by the rat balance (fecal) method. The products were fed as the sole source of protein in diets containing 8% crude protein (N × 6.25). Lowest true protein digestibility values (79–84) were obtained for pinto beans, kidney beans and lentils; intermediate values (89–92) were obtained for chick peas, beef stew, skim milk (over heated), rolled oats, whole wheat cereal, and pea protein concentrate; and highest values (94–100) were obtained for sausage, macaroni-cheese, rice-wheat gluten cereal, skim milk, tuna, soy isolate, peanut butter, chicken frankfurters, beef salami, casein and casein + methionine. In animal foods, peanut butter and soy isolate, the differences between true digestibility of crude protein and most individual amino acids were less than 5%. However, the values for true digestibility of methionine and cystine were up to 44% lower than those of crude protein in pinto beans, kidney beans, lentils, chick peas and pea concentrate. In these legumes, digestibility of crude protein was not a good predictor of digestibility of the limiting amino acids.     

大豆新型营养因子亚精胺的研究进展

亚精胺是在大豆中发现的又一功能性营养因子,作为一种无毒的天然物质,可通过诱导自噬作用发挥抗衰老和延长寿命的功能,同时对神经变性还具有抗氧化和消炎作用。大豆种子中亚精胺含量水平较一般谷类、蔬菜、块根农作物等植物高,研究表明大豆食品中亚精胺含量更高,说明大豆品种亚精胺含量对大豆食品保健功能起着重要作用。本文从亚精胺的营养保健作用、亚精胺含量检测方法、亚精胺在植物抗逆中的生理作用和大豆及其制品中亚精胺的研究进展4个方面进行了综述,以期为高亚精胺含量大豆材料的筛选、开展大豆亚精胺基因挖掘、选育高亚精胺含量大豆品种及开发大豆保健食品提供参考。     

Nutritional evaluation of experimental weaning foods prepared from green leaves,peanut oil,and legume flour

Experimental weaning foods were prepared from alfalfa leaves, peanut oil, and mung bean, chickpea or soy flour. The weaning foods were analyzed to determine their yield, proximate composition and amino acid content. Yields from starting materials ranged from 29 to 99%. Highest yields were obtained when 20% legume or oilseed flour was incorporated into leaf protein-peanut oil gels. The moisture content of the weaning foods ranged from 42 to 65%, protein from 3.4 to 6.5%, fat from 23 to 48%, and carbohydrate from 3 to 13%. Proteins in the experimental weaning foods were found to be deficient in the sulfur amino acids. Amino acid scores for weaning foods containing 20% legume or oilseed flour ranged from 50 for mung bean to 62 for soy. It was estimated that a four-ounce daily serving of one of the soy weaning foods would supply 40% of the energy and 35% of the protein needs of a one-year-old infant.     

Resistant starch content of Indian foods

Resistant starch (RS) was determined in a few selected cereals, legumes and vegetables after processing. Higher RS contents were observed in foods subjected to dry heat treatment compared to wet processed ones. Among the foods studied, sorghum, green gram dhal, and green plantain showed relatively higher RS content. Based on the RS content thus determined in individual foods and the known composition of the Indian diet, RS content of Indian diets were computed.     

Commercial Soy Protein Ingredients as Isoflavone Sources for Functional Foods

The knowledge of the contents and profile of isoflavones present in soy protein ingredients, as well as the effect of industrial processing, is important for the development of functional foods rich in these compounds. The results obtained here showed that the total isoflavone content varied significantly among products. For defatted and whole soy flours the total isoflavone content ranged from 120 to 340 mg/100 g, for soy protein isolates from 88 to 164 mg/100 g, and for commercial textured soy proteins, from 66 to 183 mg/100 g (wet basis, expressed as aglycones). The highest isoflavone content was found for soy hypocotyl flours, from 542 to 851 mg/100 g. Compared to hypocotyl and whole and defatted flours, soy ingredients presented a decrease of malonylglycosides and deesterified β-glycosides with a significant increase in the percentage of aglycones, mainly for soy fibers (65–76%). While defatting was shown to cause isoflavone concentration without altering conjugation, extrusion process caused destruction of isoflavones and a significant increase in the amount of acetylglycosides, but this effect was less intense for the concentrates. From the results obtained it can be concluded that differences in isoflavone concentration and profile may be related to oscillations in the isoflavone content present in the raw material and to the type of processing.     

The use ofEscherichia coli mutants to measure the bioavailability of essential amino acids in foods

The -galactosidase-based assay for lysine developed by Tuffnell & Payne was used to measure the bioavailabilities of cyst(e)ine, methionine, threonine and tryptophan in pronase digests of 17 foods. The digests were assayed by estimating the -galactosidase synthesis responses of fiveEscherichia coli mutants, each requiring one of the respective amino acids for protein synthesis. Deletion mutants were used whenever possible in order to ensure strain stability. Single digests of each food were assayed with 3 or 4 separate cultures of each mutant and the results were compared with those from the corresponding chemical assay. Omitting the anomalously low values for one food, the rank correlation coefficients of the bio- and chemo-assay values were 0.61 (cysteine), 0.91 (lysine), 0.95 (methionine), 0.64 (threonine) and 0.85 (tryptophan). Mean (± S.D.) relative amino acid bioavailabilities (casein = 100%) for the 17 foods were: cysteine, 53±23; lysine, 90±10; methionine, 95±18; threonine, 89±13; and tryptophan, 89±25. The cysteine mutant appeared to give unusually low bioavailability values except for the milk products. These amino acid mutants afford a rapid method for assaying the bioavailabilities of at least four of the five amino acids studied.     

Radiation interception and biomass and nitrogen accumulation in different cereal and grain legume species

The increasing interest in the sustainability of agricultural systems has emphasised the importance of incorporating legumes into cereal production, in spite of their lower and less reliable grain yields. The basis of the poor performance of legumes has been analyzed in a 2-year comparison between varieties of pea, faba bean, durum wheat and triticale, in terms of resource capture and use. The cereals developed a full canopy 350 °Cd earlier than did the grain legumes, and the triticale more rapidly than the durum wheat. This difference, and the 11-day longer duration of the growing cycle of cereals allowed them to intercept more photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) than grain legumes. This, combined with their higher radiation use efficiency (2.35 ± 0.07 vs 2.10 ± 0.05 g MJ⁻¹), resulted in a biomass greater, on average, by about 500 g m⁻². Within the cereals, triticale accumulated 34% more biomass than durum wheat. Radiation interception and nitrogen uptake are closely tied in both cereals and grain legumes. There was no difference between cereals and legumes in the relationship between the amount of nitrogen assimilated and the fraction of intercepted PAR (FIPAR), but there were differences in the form and in the parameters of the relationship between nitrogen assimilated and PAR intercepted. Below a FIPAR of 0.8, the relationship between FIPAR and N uptake is crop independent, underlining the influence of FIPAR on N uptake. The significance of this FIPAR level is that by the time it has been achieved, the plants will have accumulated most of the N present in their biomass at maturity.     

Detection of the lunasin peptide in oats (Avena sativa L)

We report the first discovery of lunasin in oats (Avena sativa L). Lunasin is a novel cancer preventive, anti-inflammatory and cholesterol-reducing peptide originally isolated from soy and later found in cereals (barley, rye, wheat, triticale). Lunasin was detected in oats using LC–MS/MS analysis. The chromatograms and mass spectra of lunasin isolated from five oat genotypes were compared with those of the synthetic lunasin peptide. We measured the lunasin content in harvests of two years and found that all tested oat genotypes contained the lunasin peptide. However, we observed genotype-related fluctuations in the lunasin content. Notably, the middle early oat variety ‘Ivory’ contained the highest and the most stable lunasin level at 0.197 ± 0.01 mg per g of grain in year 2010 and 0.195 ± 0.009 mg per g of grain in 2011. We also characterized the selected oat genotypes by measuring the contents of protein, β-glucans, fat, starch and moisture in the grains. However, we did not find correlation between lunasin and protein, and β-glucan content. Lunasin isolated from oat showed similar to the synthetic lunasin antioxidant effects. The detection of lunasin complements a list of bioactive compounds present in oats and strengthens recommendations to use oat products.     

Quantitative analyses of individual γ-Oryzanol (Steryl Ferulates) in conventional and organic brown rice (Oryza sativa L.)

γ-Oryzanol (steryl ferulates; SF) has been shown to be a major bioactive compound in rice. To determine the content of individual γ-oryzanols in brown rice by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), purification of individual SF for use as an external standard is required. Four main SF were isolated from a commercial γ-oryzanol mixture and identified as cycloartenyl ferulate (1), 24-methylenecycloartanyl ferulate (2), campesteryl ferulate (3), and sitosteryl ferulate (4) based on mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic data. The SF contents between conventional and organic brown rice were qualitatively determined by HPLC using SF isolated from a commercial γ-oryzanol mixture as the external standard. The total γ-oryzanol content (mg/100 g) in organic brown rice (65.6 ± 2.7) was slightly higher (P < 0.05) than that found in conventional brown rice (60.2 ± 1.8). The content (mg/100 g) of 1 (21.2 ± 0.9) and 4 (9.8 ± 0.4) in organic brown rice was higher (P < 0.05) than that observed in conventional brown rice (1, 18.2 ± 1.1; 4, 8.5 ± 0.3). However, the content of 2 and 3 in the conventional and organic brown rice samples did not differ significantly. These results indicate that the cultivation methods do significantly alter the γ-oryzanol content for conventional and organic brown rice.