Utilization of a vegetable protein dietary by the growing rat as influenced by folic acid and vitamin B/sub 12/ supplementation.

In the present work, a cereal-legume diet,
prepared by blending wheat flour and Bengal
gram (Cicer arietinum) flour in proportions more
or less as in normal practice and adjusted to
15 per cent protein with addition of wheat gluten,
has been compared with a diet in which fish
meal replaced the gluten. There were additional
groups on the cereal-legume diet with supplements
of folic acid and vitamin B12' with or
without cystine. Cystine addition was intended
to compensate for the deficiency of sulphur
amino acids in the cereal~legume diet; the
favourable effect of folic acid on methionine
synthesis from dietary cystine under conditions
of limited availability of methionine is known.