Investigating Plant-origin Protein Sources – Abstract

Abstract

In our research, we investigate whether plant proteins can replace animal proteins and crop production with a smaller ecological footprint can replace animal production to some extent. For this purpose, we selected plant raw materials (white quinoa, tricolour quinoa, sweet lupine, bitter lupine, and amaranth) that, based on their amino acid composition, could be suitable for replacing meat proteins or supplementing vegetable proteins. First, the total amino acid content of the samples was determined and compared to each other and to the FAO/WHO reference protein. Subsequently, the amino acid ratios (AAS) were calculated on the basis of the amount of essential amino acids. This ratio determines the relative deficiencies of the amino acids that constitute the protein in relation to the amino acid content of the reference protein. From this, the PDCAAS (protein digestibility corrected amino acid value) of the samples was calculated using the digestibility quotient (D%) found in the literature. The Daily Reference Value (DRV%) was then used to assess the degree to which the protein content of the food to be consumed meets the daily protein requirement. Our results suggest that the tested plants can be used as alternative protein sources in human nutrition, both in terms of protein content and amino acid composition, and thus can reduce the ecological footprint of food production by replacing animal proteins.