Protein Nutritional Quality of Infant Cereals during Processing
2002
Pérez-Conesa, D. | Ros, G. | Periago, M.J.
The most common food for weaning at the age of 4–6 months is cereal since is that it is a good source of high quality protein. However, processing may affect this quality. The aim of the present study was ascertain the changes that take place during four processing stages of infant cereals (in the raw materials, after roasting, after enzymatic treatment and drum drying, and in the commercial product), the following protein nutritional parameters: crude and true protein (CP and TP, respectively), in vitro protein digestibility (IVPD), free amino acids (FAA), calculated protein efficiency ratio (C-PER) and total amino acids profile. Of the infant cereals studied two contained gluten (‘Multicereal’ and ‘Wheat’) and two were gluten-free (‘Growth’ and ‘Rice and carrot’). All the parameters studied were affected by the different processing stages, but none showed a clear trend. The CP and TP content decreased after heat treatment (roasting) with a consequent increase in FAA content due to protein hydrolysis and the release of amino acids. IVPD remained stable during the processing stages in all the infant cereals, except in ‘Wheat’, while C-PER increased significantly. Infant cereals containing gluten showed higher CP and TP contents, and also higher IVPD than gluten free cereals, in which a digestibility value higher than 75% was reached. The overall content of essential amino acids, including sulphur amino acids, was acceptable (equal to or higher than FAO/WHO recommendations), although lysine (Lys) was the limiting amino acid in all the infant cereals.
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