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Improving the Nutritive Value of Flour

VII. Supplementing the Protein in Flour with Amino Acids¹

Department of Foods and Nutrition, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Manhattan

Experiments were conducted using natural foods to determine the effect of the addition of lysine, tryptophan, valine and B vitamins to diets high in cereal content and low in meat, milk and eggs on the growth rate, food efficiency, and deposition of B vitamins and fat in the livers of albino rats.

Animals on diets containing 12% meat, milk and eggs with 37% flour had a much better growth rate, food efficiency and healthier appearance than those on diets with 44% flour and no meat. The addition of lysine did not improve the diet containing meat, milk and eggs but when meat was omitted, the addition of lysine was beneficial.

When the animal protein was removed from the diets, even though lysine, tryptophan, valine, additional B vitamins and iron were incorporated into the flour, which then made up 49% of the diets, the growth rate and food efficiency were much below those with animal protein in the diet. The animals on the poorer diets deposited larger quantities of B vitamins in the livers, probably because they were not used in the growth processes. Deposition of fat was normal.

In diets of natural foods with a high cereal content evidently it is necessary to supply at least small quantities of animal protein along with additional amino acids in order to have healthy animals growing at a normal rate. The results indicate that the quantities of amino acids added to the flour were insufficient to meet the needs of the animals.

Manuscript received 10 July 1956.