The supplementary value of certain processed protein foods based on blends of grondnut, soyabean, sesame, chickpea (Cicer arietinum) flours and skim milk powder to a maize-tapioca diet.

It is now generally recognized that the high incidence of kwashiorkor in children in
India and certain other Asian countries, in Africa and in Latin America is the result of
severe deficiency of protein in the diet (Trowell, Davies & Dean, 1954; Autret &
BChar, 1954; Gopalan & Ramalingaswami, 1955; Brock & Autret, 1952). The diets
consumed by children in these countries consist predominantly of cereals, roots and
tubers; they contain only small amounts of legumes and negligible quantities of animal
foods such as milk, fish, eggs and meat. The incidence of kwashiorkor is particularly
high in regions where maize and tapioca are eaten (Trowel1 et al. 1954). In view of the
scarcity of animal proteins, the possibility of using protein-rich foods of vegetable
origin, such as legumes, oilseeds and oilseed meals, for the treatment and prevention
of kwashiorkor has been investigated by some workers (Autret & van Veen, 1955;
Subrahmanyan, Bhagavan & Swaminathan, 1958 ; Scrimshaw, 1959). The diets consumed
by children suffering from kwashiorkor are deficient not only in proteins but
also in other dietary essentials, such as vitamins and certain minerals including
calcium and iron (Venkatachalam, Srikantiah & Gopalan, 1954; BChar, Arroyave,
Flores & Scrimshaw, 1960; Flores, Flores & Meneses, 1957; Autret & BChar, 1954).
Even though the primary objective in the treatment and prevention of kwashiorkor
is to provide a supplementary source of protein, it is nevertheless desirable that the
vegetable-protein mixtures should also be fortified with essential vitamins and
minerals in which the poor dietaries are lacking. Since the quality of protein in the
vegetable-protein foods is, in general, inferior to that of milk proteins, attempts should
be made also to improve the quality of the proteins by blending suitably two or more
vegetable proteins or by the addition of small amounts of skim-milk powder. This
paper gives the results of studies of the effect of supplementing a maize-tapioca diet
with certain processed protein foods (based on blends of groundnut, soya-bean, sesame
and chick-pea (Cicer arietinum) flours and skim-milk powder) on the weight gain and
the composition of blood, liver and carcass of albino rats.