Effect of germination on the nutritional qualities of some of the vegetable proteins

Abstract

Comparison of the biological value obtained by animal experiments and the quality index of the protein obtained by chemical methods does show some parallelism between the two, How far it would be applicable in general for the determination of the nutritive value of the proteins is difficult to see at the moment. This aspect has been investigated from the point of view of cattle and poultry feeding and deserves further investigation from the standpoint of human nutrition. 2. Germination appears to improve the digestibility coefficient of proteins in pulses, and the availability of vitamin (unpublished work), though there is a lowering of the biological value. Hence the use of germinated pulses in food dishes. 3. Cotton seed contains good quality of protein and its nutritive value is also comparable with that of commonly used foodstuffs. It however contains a substance of poisonous nature (gossypol), and if it is removed cotton seed proteins can be used to supplement protein requirements of man.