Sweetpotato- and cereal-based infant foods: protein quality assessment, and effect on body composition using sprague dawley rats as a model

• Published in: PloS one 2015-04, Vol.10 (3), p.e0120121-e0120121
• Main Authors: Amagloh, Francis Kweku, Chiridza, Tracy, Lemercier, Marie-Eve, Broomfield, Anne, Morel, Patrick C H, Coad, Jane
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural resources; Amino acids; Amino Acids - chemistry; Animals; Babies; Baby foods; Body Composition; Body fat; Body Weight; Bone composition; Bone density; Bone mass; Composition effects; Dietary Proteins; Digestibility; Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry; Edible Grain - chemistry; Energy consumption; Experiments; Food; Food products; Food Quality; Formulations; Infant Food; Infants; Ipomoea batatas; Ipomoea batatas - chemistry; Low income groups; Male; Mathematical models; Methods; Nutrition research; Nutritional aspects; Nutritive Value; Physiological aspects; Potatoes; Proteins; Quality; Quality assessment; Quality control; Rats; Soybeans; Studies; Sweet potatoes; Vitamin A; Weaning
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0120121

The Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS) of sweetpotato-based complementary foods (OFSP ComFa and CFSP ComFa) and cereal-based infant products (Weanimix and Cerelac) was assessed using 3 wk-old male Sprague Dawley rats weighing between 53-67 g as a model for human infants. Also, the effect of consumption of the infant formulations on lean mass, bone mass content and fat mass was evaluated by Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) using 6 wk-old Sprague Dawley rats (initial weight, 206-229 g). The ComFa products and Weanimix are household-level formulations, and Cerelac is a commercial infant cereal. The true protein digestibility score for Cerelac was 96.27%, and about 1.8% (P