Dietary Protein:  Protein quality

The AMDR for protein is 10%–35%. Dietary protein provides the essential amino acids . Nine of the 20 amino acids needed for the synthesis of body proteins are essential (that is, they cannot be synthesized in humans).
The quality of a dietary protein is a measure of its ability to provide the essential amino acids (EAA) required for tissue maintenance. Most government agencies have adopted the Protein Digestibility–Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS) as the standard by which to evaluate protein quality. PDCAAS is based on the profile of EAA after correcting for the digestibility of the protein. The highest possible score under these guidelines is 1.00. This amino acid score provides a method to balance intakes of poorer-quality proteins with high-quality dietary proteins.
1. Proteins from animal sources: Proteins from animal sources (meat, poultry, milk, and fish) have a high quality because they contain all the EAA in proportions similar to those required for synthesis of human tissue proteins (Fig. 1), and they are more readily digested. [Note: Gelatin prepared from animal collagen is an exception. It has a low biologic value as a result of deficiencies in several EAA.]

Figure 1: Relative quality of some common dietary proteins. PDCAAS = Protein Digestibility–Corrected Amino Acid Score.
2. Proteins from plant sources: Plant proteins have a lower quality than do animal proteins. However, proteins from different plant sources may be combined in such a way that the result is equivalent in nutritional value to animal protein. For example, wheat (lysine deficient but methionine rich) may be combined with kidney beans (methionine poor but lysine rich) to produce a higher biologic value than either of the component proteins (Fig. 2). [Note: Animal proteins can also complement the biologic value of plant proteins.]

Figure 2: Combining two incomplete proteins that have complementary amino acid deficiencies results in a mixture with a higher biologic value.

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