Evaluation of Protein Quality of Pap-based Complementary Food Enriched with the Edible Grasshopper Zonocerus variegatus

Abstract

Background: Protein quality is an index of how well a protein meets the requirements of essential amino acids, as well as the physiological needs, of the organism. Aim: To evaluate the effect of “otujo ant” on the protein quality of complementary food. Methods: A Completely Randomized Design (CRD) was carried out among 50 male weanling rats at Enugu State University of Science and Technology. Rats were randomly assigned to a 5-week clinical study (intervention, n=40) and (control, n-10). Urinary sample with dried diet and feacal samples were analyzed and used to calculate true digestibility (TD), nitrogen balance (NB), net protein utilization (NPU), protein efficiency ratio (PER) and biological value (BV). Between-group means of quantitative clinical indices were compared using Duncan New Multiple range test and ANOVA test. Result: The results of the nitrogen balance showed that the BV, NPU and retained nitrogen for the experimental diets were between 67-68, 67-69 and 2.86-2.93%, respectively, against the casein diet 75, 76 and 3.10%. The PER for the experimental diets were 1.62-2.22 against the casein diet 2.98. The results also showed that the weight gain by the experimental diets was 2.74-3.24 g weight while the casein diet gained 3.50 g. Conclusion: The study concluded that enriching pap with “otujo ant” will improve the protein quality of pap, hence a vehicle for the prevention of protein-energy malnutrition.