Amino acid composition and In vitro digestibility of lentil and rice proteins and their mixture ( Koshary)

Abstract

Amino acid composition and chemical and in vitro digestibilities were determined for lentils, rice and their blend ( koshary), which is commonly eaten in many countries of the Middle East. The in vitro digestibility was assessed by different enzymatic systems; namely, pepsin, pancreatin and pepsin followed by pancreatin. The data revealed that mixing lentils with rice raised the level of lysine which is limiting in rice in the same way as the level of the sulphur-containing amino acids is limiting in lentils. The chemical score for lentils, rice and koshary proteins was calculated before and after cooking. Both cooking and blending were found to increase the chemical score of the three materials. Casein was more digestible than the protein of raw lentils, rice and koshary as assessed by the three digestibility methods. Cooking raised the digestibility of lentils, rice and koshary proteins. Cooked rice and cooked koshary were found to possess higher digestibility than cooked lentils.