Protein quality

and its
assessment
Presented by: Vidhi Ratawal
M.Sc. Food and Nutrition
Semester 2
INDEX
• Protein and its quality – Introduction
Traditional methods to assess protein quality
• Protein efficiency ratio, PER
• Biological value, BV
• Net Protein Utilization, NPU
New methods
• PDCAAS and DIAAS
• References
Protein Functions

- Promotes muscle growth, maintenance

and repair of tissue
- Makes genetic makeup
- Neurotransmitters and chemical
messenger in the brain
- Enzymes
- Produces antibodies that fights off
infections
Which meal is higher in protein quality?

Meal 1: Chicken and rice Meal 2: Potato and rice

 PROTEIN QUALITY

Amino acid content (EAA) Efficiency of utilization of proteins

● Digestibility – ileal and fecal
● Absorption

Essential/ indispensable Amino Acids

Histidine Isoleucine Leucine Lysine Methionine Phenylalanine Threonine Tryptophan Valine

METHODS OF ASSESSING PROTEIN
QUALITY
Protein Efficiency Protein Digestibility

New Methods
Traditional methods

Requirement (PER) Corrected Amino

Biological Value Acid Score
(BV) (PDCASS)
Net Protein Dispensable
Utilization (NPU) Indispensable
Amino Acid (DIAAS)
\
Protein Efficiency Ratio
(PER) – Osborn, 1917
• PER determines the ability of a dietary protein to support growth of young rats and is
dependent on the amount of protein incorporated in the test diet.

• PER = Weight gain (g)/ Total protein intake (g)

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
Advantages

• simple, quick, can rate different protein sources

Limitations

• its inability to account for the maintenance protein requirement.

• errors associated with changes in the body composition of the growing rats.

• PER tends to be overestimated for animal proteins and underestimated for vegetable
proteins due to the higher growth rate of rats as compared to humans.

• PER is a measure of total protein quality and does not indicate individual amino acid
utilization. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC
Biological Value (BV) -
William Rose, 1950s Food BV
source
•BV is defined as the “percentage of absorbed N or amino
acids retained in the body”, this is how efficiently
absorbed proteins or nitrogen is converted into body
tissue protein for growth and maintenance. Egg white 100%
•BV = N retained/ N absorbed X 100

•Advantages
Milk 93%
• Uses nitrogen balance studies
Rice 86%
• Useful in kidney and liver disease patient diet therapy.

•Limitations Wheat 44%

• Does not include digestibility

• Does not account for individual amino acid

Net Protein Utilization (NPU) – Bender and
Doell,1953
NPU is determined by “percentage of dietary protein (N)
retained in the body” Food source NPU
NPU = N retained/ N intake X 100
Egg white 100%
Advantages

It includes both the digestibility (defined as the percentage of

the food N absorbed from the gut) and the BV of amino acid
Milk 93%
mixture absorbed from food.

For example, when food proteins are completely digested the Rice 86%
NPU and BV will be the same. When food contain a lot of fibre
and have a lower digestibility, the NPU will be lower than BV.

Limitations
Wheat 44%
• Individual food gives lower value than mixed diet, Tedious
process.

• Does not account for individual amino acid

New methods of assessing protein quality

Protein Digestibility Digestible

Corrected Amino Indispensable
Acid Score Amino Acid Score
(PDCAAS) (DIAAS)

In 1989, the joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Protein Quality Evaluation (FAO/WHO 1990)40
suggested that protein quality could be assessed adequately by expressing the content of the first limiting
essential amino acid of the test protein compared to the content of the same amino acid in a reference
pattern of essential amino acids.
PDCAAS-
WHO/FAO/UNU, 1989
It was suggested that protein
quality could be assessed
adequately by expressing the
content of the first limiting
essential amino acid of the test
protein compared to the content
of the same amino acid in a
reference pattern of essential
amino acids.

To calculate, the chemical score is

multiplied by the digestibility of
protein. The maximum value is
truncated to 1.
This is based on the essential amino acid requirements of the
preschool-age child as published in 1985, RDA Full Report 2020.
 Calculation
Food source PDCAAS
• To calculate the PDCAAS, first the AAS for the limiting IAA Egg white 1
of a food protein or mixed meal must be estimated.
• For the mixed meal, a weighted average digestibility is Soy protein 0.92 to
0.99
used.
• The AAS of the IAA is then corrected for the apparent or Meat 0.92
true fecal crude protein digestibility value estimated.
• The PDCAAS index is then calculated as the protein Wheat 0.40
digestibility corrected AAS based on the limiting AA
requirement for the specified age group
For example, if the PDCAAS is 0.8, and 1 serving of the protein contains 10 grams of protein, this would yield 8 grams of protein with a complete amino
acid profile that is 100% bioavailable.

The PDCAAS value considers the essential amino acid content of a protein and how well it is digested and absorbed by the body. It compares the amino
acid profile of the protein to a reference pattern of essential amino acids and considers the limiting amino acid, which is the essential amino acid
present in the lowest quantity relative to the body's requirements.
 Limitation
1. It uses a single crude protein N digestibility value instead of a specific digestibility value of each IAA
2. It uses fecal instead of true ileal digestibility.

Aspect Fecal Digestibility Ileal Digestibility

Definition Measures the proportion of nutrients excreted in the Measures the proportion of nutrients absorbed
feces after digestion. in the small intestine (ileum) after digestion.
Site of Faeces Ileum
Measurement
Nutrient Includes both digested and undigested nutrient content Reflects only the portion of the nutrient that is
Availability in the excreted feces. absorbed by the body and available for
utilization.

Reflects Overall efficiency of nutrient digestion and absorption in
the entire gastrointestinal tract.
Influenced by Digestion, absorption, and metabolic processes
occurring in the large intestine.
May overestimate nutrient availability due to
Limitations endogenous losses and metabolic processes occurring in
the large intestine.
True absorption and utilization of nutrients,
excluding losses in the large intestine.
Digestion, absorption, and metabolism of
nutrients, specifically in the ileum.
Requires invasive procedures for collection of
ileal digesta.
 DIAAS
To overcome the shortcomings of PDCAAS, FAO recommended replacing the PDCAAS
with Digestible IAA score (DIAAS).

In DIAAS, the constituent indispensable amino acids (IAA) of a protein source are
corrected for its true ileal digestibility and the lowest scoring AA is termed as limiting
and this defines it’s the DIAAS score.

DIAAS = True ileal digestibility of limiting amino acid x Limiting AAS

In DIAAS calculation, the relative digestible content of the IAAs in the protein is
compared to the requirement pattern of same IAAs of a particular age group.
References
● Dietary protein quality evaluation in human nutrition Report of an FAO Expert Consultation.
Available at: https://www.fao.org/3/i3124e/i3124e.pdf.
● Nutrient Requirements for Indians Recommended Dietary Allowances and Estimated Average
Requirement-2020.
● ‌Textbook of Biochemistry with Clinical Correlations. (1983). Biochemical Education, 11(4),
p.158. Doi: HTTPs://doi.org/10.1016/0307-4412(83)90121-8.
● Chadha, Ravinder , and Pulkit Mathur. Nutrition : A Lifecycle Approach. New Delhi, Orient
Blackswan Private Limited, 2015.
● FAO. Protein Requirements. Report of the Committee on Calorie Requirements, FAO Nutritional
Studies No.16, 1957. 2. Elango R, Ball RO, Pencharz PB.
● Recent advances in determining protein and amino acid requirements in humans.
● British Journal of Nutrition. 2012 Aug; 108(S2):S22-30. 3. Joint FAO/WHO/UNU, Energy and
Protein Requirements.
● Report of a Joint FAO/WHO/UNU Expert Consultants, WHO Technical Report Series 724, 1985.