Cereals like rice, wheat, bajra, jowar & ragi, carry proteins with adequate levels of methionine-cystine but seriously lacking in Lysine, an essential amino acid. Since soya proteins are good sources of Lysine and threonine, they supplement effectively cereal proteins. This re-inforcement balances amino-acids to a level very close to the protein of milk or egg that resembles FAO standards.
Cereal-soya blends are very popular in many of the developing countries as high-protein food supplements for young and growing children. They have been originally formulated by the Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) & subsequently adopted by a large number of countries for their school lunch/child development programmes as under:
U.S.A. : – Rice – Soya blends (RSB), Wheat-Soya blends (WSB), & Corn-Soya blends (CSB), are widely used in the United States. The U.S.national school lunch programme recommends the use of soya proteins up to 30% in the mid-day meals.
U.K. – About 2/3 of the 123 school authorities in the U.K. are using soya proteins. The Department of Health & School Security recommends the use of soya proteins upto 30% levels as meat replacement.
OTHER DEVELOPING COUNTRIES – In Brazil, soya-cereal blend is called ‘FORTIFIX’; in Columbia & Guatemala it is called ‘INCAPARINA’; in Costarica ‘LISHA’; in Bolivia ‘MAISOY’; in Mexico ‘MASA; in Guyana ‘ CEREX’ & in Srilanka wheat-soya & corn – soya blends are called ‘TRIPOSHA’.
Nutritional Qualities of Cereal-Soya Blends- |
| A) |
Amino
Acid Balance : |
|
Cereals like rice, wheat, corn and ragi are deficient in more than one amino acid, as under :
|
|
|
| |
Protein
efficiency ratio of cereals (Basis-2.5 for milk products |
Deficient
amino acids for specialized diets for children of 2-5
yrs age group |
| Rice |
1.50 |
Lysine |
| Wheat |
0.93 |
Lysine
& Threonine |
| Corn |
0.95 |
Lysine
& Trytophan |
| Ragi |
0.95 |
Lysine |
| Soya |
2.45 |
Nil |
|
| |
| On the other hand, soyabean contains more than adequate amounts of these amino acids. Hence the cereals when fortified with soya, will re-inforce the amino acid balance to a large extent in the required proportions, so that all the essential amino acids in GoodRich cereal – soy blends will either equal or exceed the amino acid requirements of pre-school children, as per FAO-WHO recommendations. |
| |
| B) | Quantity
of proteins : |
| Cereals are also deficient in the percentage of proteins. When converted to 6% moisture levels, Rice contains 7.46% proteins, Wheat has 12.72%, Jowar has 11.10% and Ragi has 7.68% proteins. On the other hand, de-hulled full-fat GoodRich soya flour has 42% proteins. |
| |
| C) | Protein
Efficiency Ratio : |
| Cereal-Soya blends have re-inforcing effect, rendering the proteins more efficient in their utilization. The Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER) values of the blends are given below –
PER =Gain in body weight (grams) / Protein intake (grams) |
| |
|
| Minimum
PER as stipulated by ISI |
1.75
to 2.0 |
| PER
of Rice-Soya blend |
2.2
to 2.3 |
| PER
of Wheat-Soya blend |
2.1
to 2.2 |
| PER
of Jowar-Soya blend |
2.0
to 2.1 |
| PER
of Ragi-Soya blend |
2.0
to 2.1 |
|
(Basis
2.5 for milk proteins ) |
|
|
