Abstract
The inability of humans to synthesize essential amino acids (EAA) necessitates the need to increase the levels of these nutrient molecules in certain foods in which they are deficient. Maize ogi is a typical food product for both infants and adults in Africa, but with poor EAA content. This study therefore sought to assess the possibility of increasing the EAA content in maize ogi by processing it with cheese whey instead of water. Maize ogi and whey-fortified ogi were prepared by the usual procedure of grain soaking, milling, and drying. Samples from both treatments were subjected to proximate composition and amino acid profile analyses using Waters 616/626 LC (HPLC) instrument. L-lysine, L-trytophan, and L-methionine contents in maize ogi remarkably increased from 0.52, 0.15, and 0.90 mg/100 gm sample, respectively, to 0.90, 240, and 1.320 mg/100 gm sample in whey-fortified ogi. There were also significant increases in other EAA contents of whey-fortified ogi relative to its counterpart (normal maize ogi). The sum increase in EAA contents (9,405 mg) correlates with the increase in protein (1 gm) per gram sample. This study demonstrates that cheese whey increases EAA content in maize ogi and suggests that whey-fortified maize ogi may be a preferred alternative to water processed maize ogi.
Highlights
Essential amino acid content determines the nutritional and functional quality of proteins which in turn play several important roles in body physiology and development
Normal maize varieties of protein contain on an average about 2% lysine which is less than onehalf of the concentration recommended for human nutrition by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) [6]
Whey contains high quality and nutritious dairy proteins like alphalactoglobulins, beta-lactoglobulins, bovine serum albumin, and immunoglobulins which are good for healthy living because of their richness in essential amino acids, especially the branched-chain amino acids which include leucine, isoleucine, and valine [14]. It was on this basis that maize was processed with whey in the present study with a view to producing a whey-maize ogi that would not be limiting in any essential amino acids
Summary
Essential amino acid content determines the nutritional and functional quality of proteins which in turn play several important roles in body physiology and development. Whey contains high quality and nutritious dairy proteins like alphalactoglobulins, beta-lactoglobulins, bovine serum albumin, and immunoglobulins which are good for healthy living because of their richness in essential amino acids, especially the branched-chain amino acids which include leucine, isoleucine, and valine [14]. It was on this basis that maize was processed with whey in the present study with a view to producing a whey-maize ogi that would not be limiting in any essential amino acids
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