SWEETPOTATO- AND CEREAL-BASED INFANT FOODS: PROTEIN QUALITY ASSESSMENT, AND EFFECT ON BODY COMPOSITION USING SPRAGUE DAWLEY RATS AS A MODEL

Abstract

The Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score(PDCAAS) of sweetpotato-based complementary foods(OFSP ComFa and CFSP ComFa) and cereal-based infant products (Weanimix and Cerelac)was assessed using3wk-old male Sprague Dawley rats weighing between 53–67g as a model for human infants. Also,the effect of consumption of the infant formulations on lean mass, bone mass content and fat mass was evaluated by Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA)using 6 wk-old Sprague Dawley rats (initial weight,206-229 g). The ComFa products and Weanimix are household-level formulations, and Cerelac is a commercial infant cereal. The true protein digestibility score for Cerelac was 96.27%, and about1.8%(P<0.0001) higher than that for OFSP ComFa, CFSP ComFa and Weanimix. However, OFSP ComFa had the highest un-truncated PDCAAS by a difference of 4.1%, than CFSP ComFa,and about20% difference compared with both the Weanimix and Cerelac. All the products investigated had PDCAAS greater than 70%, the minimum protein quality requirement for complementary foods.Among the rats assigned to the four formulations, their bone mass and fat mass composition were not significantly different (P=0.08 and P=0.85,respectively). However, the rats on CFSP ComFa had higher lean mass than those on Cerelac (321.67vs.297.19g;P=0.03). The findings from the PDCAAS and the DEXA measured body composition studies indicate that complementary foods could be formulated from readily available agricultural resources at the household-level to support growth as would a nutritionally adequate industrial-manufactured infant cereal.Nonetheless, it should be noted that the findings of our studies are based on an animal model