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Evaluation of the Nutritional Quality of the Grain Protein of New Amaranths Varieties

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Abstract

The efforts for promoting the consumption of food of plant origin are increasingly growing. The amaranth grain is an important vegetable protein source, superior in content and quality to traditional cereals. In the central-west region of Argentina, new amaranth varieties have been obtained to optimize its agronomic traits and promote its use. In this work, the analysis of the wholemeal flour protein from seeds of two new varieties of Amaranthus cruentus var. Candil (CC) and Amaranthus hypochondriacus var. Dorado (HD), as well as from advanced lines of Amaranthus hypochondriacus x Amaranthus cruentus H17a (H17) and Amaranthus cruentus G6/17a (CG6), was carried out in order to elucidate their nutritional contribution to human diet. The amino acids profile and the chemical score (CS) were determined, and the protein quality was evaluated in-vivo through the following indexes: net protein utilization (NPU), true digestibility (tD), biological value (BV) and protein digestibility corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS). In general, the amino acids values of the different varieties exceeded the requirements established by the WHO/FAO/UNU; however, valine was the limiting amino acid in all cases. The values obtained (%) were within the following ranges: NPU, 33.56–46.04 %; tD, 68.80–75.40 %; BV, 44.53–64.28%; and PDCAAS, 23.69–36.19 %. These results suggest that the new amaranth flours varieties can be adequate for human consumption and as complementary protein source.

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Abbreviations

AAS:

Amino acid score

AIN-93G:

American Institute of Nutrition 1993 for growth

AOAC:

Association of Official Analytical Chemists

BV:

Biological value

CC:

Amaranthus cruentus var. Candil

CG6:

Amaranthus cruentus G6/17a

CS:

Chemical score

H17:

Amaranthus hypochondriacus x Amaranthus cruentus H17a

HD:

Amaranthus hypochondriacus var. Dorado

NPU:

Net protein utilization

PDCAAS:

Protein digestibility corrected amino acid score

tD:

True digestibility

WHO/FAO/UNU:

World Health Organization/ Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations/ United Nations University

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Engineer Guillermo Peiretti (Professor of the Agronomical and Veterinary Sciences, Department National University of Río Cuarto) for kindly providing the seeds employed in this work, obtained as original varieties from experimental cultivation. We also want to thank the UNSL, UNLPam and CONICET.

Conflict of interest

All authors confirmed that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacy, National University of San Luis, Chacabuco, 917. 5700, San Luis, Argentina

    Elba Graciela Aguilar, Graciela de Jesús Albarracín, María Angelina Uñates, Hugo Daniel Piola & Nora Lilian Escudero

  2. Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, National University of La Pampa, and Institute of Environmental and Earth Sciences (INCITAP-CONICET), Avenida Uruguay 151, 6300, Santa Rosa, Argentina

    José Manuel Camiña

Authors
  1. Elba Graciela Aguilar
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  2. Graciela de Jesús Albarracín
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  3. María Angelina Uñates
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  4. Hugo Daniel Piola
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  5. José Manuel Camiña
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  6. Nora Lilian Escudero
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Correspondence to Nora Lilian Escudero.

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Aguilar, E.G., Albarracín, G.d., Uñates, M.A. et al. Evaluation of the Nutritional Quality of the Grain Protein of New Amaranths Varieties. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 70, 21–26 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-014-0456-3

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