Protein Uptake and Utilization of Moringa olifera Leaves and Seeds Fed to Rats as a Dietary Supplement

Abstract

Background/Objective: Protein malnutrition is detrimental at any point in life. Protein malnutrition prenatally has also been shown to have significant lifelong effects. The objective of this study was to evaluate the protein uptake and utilization of Moringa olifera leaves and seeds fed to rats as a dietary supplement.
 Materials and Methods: The leaves and seeds were harvested from the forest. The leaves were washed, drained and divided into three portions. The first portion was processed raw, the sun and shade dried samples were the second and third portion. The seeds were cracked and divided into six portions. The other five portions were fermented for 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 h respectively. The blends of the shade dried leaves (SHDL) and 69 h fermented seed (FMS) provided 10% protein for two groups of rats. The diets were fed to twenty (20) adult albino rats in a 12-day N and mineral balance study. Casein was used as control. The result generated were statistically analyzed using SPSS version 22.
 Results: The result showed that over 70% of the nitrogen consumed by all the two groups of rats fed the test diets were absorbed and retained. Among the test diet group, the FMS diet had the highest absorbed nitrogen (0.94 g), retained nitrogen (0.55 g), biological value (76%) and net protein utilization (52%) which was significantly different from the other groups. The SHDL had the most digested nitrogen (94%), highest maintenance food intake (74.09%) and weight gain (34.28%) that were comparable with the reference protein casein at (p>0.05). The FMS group had the highest liver, small intestine and lung weight. The mineral metabolism of all the rats fed the test diets were absorbed and retained.
 Conclusion: Generally, both the leaves and the seeds of Moringa olifera have good nutrient profile which could promote growth, they should be consumed to diversify diet and reduced micronutrient deficiency.

Assessment of Protein Quality of Complementary Food Made from Maize (Zea mays) Supplemented with Crayfish (Euastacus spp) and Carrot (Daucus carota) Using Albino Rats

“…The usual first complementary food is called pap, "akamu", "ogi", or "koko" and is made by fermentation of maize, millet, or guinea corn [3,4]. Cereal based traditional complementary foods are inadequate to meet daily nutrients, energy and micronutrient requirements, where such complementary foods form the main source of nutrient to an infant, it may lead to undernutrition and micronutrient malnutrition in infants and young children [5,6,7].…”

“…Protein quality is the ability of a food protein to support body growth and maintenance [5]. Biological evaluation of protein has the ability to assess growth and maintenance and it is the only reliable method for the determination of protein quality [5]. A good quality protein is one with high digestibility.…”

“…A good quality protein is one with high digestibility. This is the protein that will supply sufficient amino acid (AA) to cover requirements when consumed at a level that complies with the global protein requirement [5]. A dietary protein that supports a positive nitrogen balance at a low concentration is a high quality protein [8].…”