Department of Food Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
Anyango, J.O., Department of Food Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa; de Kock, H.L., Department of Food Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa; Taylor, J.R.N., Department of Food Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
Protein malnutrition is a problem in Africa where sorghum is a staple foodstuff. Improvement in the protein quality of traditional African sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) foods through the addition of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp), an indigenous African legume, was investigated. Two sorghum cultivars, a red, tannin-type (NS 5511) and a white tan-plant, non-tannin type (Orbit) were complemented with cowpea (70:30 ratio). Ugali (thick porridge), uji (fermented thin porridge) and injera (fermented flatbread) were prepared. The protein lysine scores of cowpea-complemented foods were about double the levels of sorghum-only foods. The in vitro protein digestibility of the foods increased by 13-62%. The increase in lysine and protein digestibility improvement resulted in three- and two-fold improvement in the Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS) of NS 5511, and Orbit foods, respectively. Addition of cowpea to tannin, as well as non-tannin sorghum is a viable option for improving the protein quality of a wide range of traditional African foods. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.
Cowpea; Lysine score; Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS); Protein quality; Sorghum; Tannins; Traditional African foods; Amino acids; Proteins; lysine; tannin derivative; Africa; amino acid analysis; article; cowpea; cultivar; food; in vitro study; nonhuman; protein content; protein malnutrition; protein quality; sorghum; Sorghum bicolor; Vigna unguiculata
