Protein resources and their utilization.

The rapid development of our knowledge regarding the importance of adequate
nutrition for maintaining good health has led in recent years to an increasing
realisation of the relation of the food supply of a country to the well-being of the
people. The average Indian diet is inadequate both quantitatively and qualitatively
in protein and necessitates the production of adequate amounts of proteinrich
and protective foods such as milk, meat, fish and eggs to meet the requirements
of the vulnerable sections of the population1? Protein malnutrition is the
major nutritional problem among weaned infants and young children, though
diseases due to deficiencies of certain vitamins and iron may also be associated
with this condition. Much of the work carried out during recent years in India
as well as in several other countries relates to the utilization of all available proteinrich
foods for supplementing the diets of childrena. The present paper reviews
the recent developments on the subject and indicates how the available knowledge
could best be used to overcome protein shortage in human diets.