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Protein and amino acid digestibility of 15N Spirulina in rats

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Abstract

Purpose

Spirulina is often used as dietary supplement for its protein content and quality. However, in vivo data on protein digestibility are lacking. This study aims to determine nitrogen and amino acid digestibility in rats. A secondary objective was to test the effect of sonication prior to ingestion to break cell walls.

Methods

Wistar rats were fed a single test meal containing 15N Spirulina that was either sonicated (n = 11) or not (control, n = 13). Rats were euthanized 6 h after the meal ingestion. Spirulina nitrogen digestibility was measured by assessment of 15N recovery in digestive contents. Amino acid digestibility was measured by quantification of the caecal amino acid content and their 15N enrichment.

Results

Real fecal nitrogen digestibility was 86.0 ± 0.7%, without any differences between groups. Mean 15N amino acid caecal digestibility was 82.8 ± 1.3%, and values ranged between 77.9 ± 1.9% for serine and 89.4 ± 1.0% for methionine. No effect of sonication was observed. The most limiting AA was histidine, with a chemical score of 0.98 and a PD-CAAS of 0.84. Lysine was also limiting in a lesser extent.

Conclusion

The nitrogen and amino acid digestibility of Spirulina is relatively low, and showed no effect of prior sonication. Its amino acid composition is relatively well balanced but not enough to compensate for the poor digestibility.

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Fig. 1
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Abbreviations

AA:

Amino acid

Asx:

Aspartate and asparagine

APE:

Atom percent excess

CS:

Chemical Score

DM:

Dry matter

EA:

Elemental analyzer

GC-C:

Gas chromatography coupled to a combustion furnace

Glx:

Glutamate and glutamine

IAA:

Indispensable amino acid

IRMS:

Isotope-ratio mass spectrometer

N:

Nitrogen

SEM:

Standard error of the mean

PD-CAAS:

Protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score

SS:

Sonicated Spirulina

UHPLC:

Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography

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Acknowledgements

We thank Julien Piedcoq for his technical assistance and Daniel Tomé for his valuable insight on the project. This work was funded by the FASO (Fund for oleaginous and protein crops) (Grant number 12645).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université Paris-Saclay, AgroParisTech, INRAE, UMR PNCA, 75005, Paris, France

    Romain Tessier, Juliane Calvez, Nadezda Khodorova & Claire Gaudichon

Authors
  1. Romain Tessier
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  2. Juliane Calvez
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  3. Nadezda Khodorova
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  4. Claire Gaudichon
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Contributions

CG designed the research; RT, JC and NK conducted the research; RT and CG analyzed data; RT wrote the article; JC, NK and CG proofread the article; RT and CG had primary responsibility for final content. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Claire Gaudichon.

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On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

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Tessier, R., Calvez, J., Khodorova, N. et al. Protein and amino acid digestibility of 15N Spirulina in rats. Eur J Nutr 60, 2263–2269 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-020-02368-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-020-02368-0

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