Apparent digestibility and proteic quality of the basic diet of Rio de Janeiro State complemented with multimixture.

Some factors in food can influence the protein digestibility positively or negatively. The protein quality is related to the protein synthesis capacity, growth, maintenance, reproduction and reconstitution of an organism. This work aims to determine the apparent digestibility coefficient and the protein quality of the standard basic diet of Rio de Janeiro State (HERJ), complemented with 2% of the multimixture (HERJ + MM), during rats' gestation and lactation periods. The results indicated a lower apparent digestibility coefficient (P < 0.05) during the gestation and lactation periods in HERJ diets (82.4% +/- 0.55; 80.64% +/- 1.7) and HERJ + MM (80.9% +/- 3.28; 81.7% +/- 1.2), in comparison to the casein diet (91.8% +/- 0.6; 93.9% +/- 0.4). There was no significant difference (P < 0.05) between HERJ diet (2.75 +/- 0.14) and HERJ + MM diet (2.53 +/- 0.18). However, the casein diet has showed a higher lactation value (3.27 +/- 0.3) in comparison with the two above mentioned groups. Therefore the use of the multimixture at 2% level neither impairs the apparent digestibility coefficient nor does it change the protein quality of the standard diet of Rio de Janeiro State.

Study of chemical characteristics and nutritional quality of two food-subproduct flours--multimixture.

The objective of this study was to analyze the chemical and nutritional composition of two flours obtained from food subproducts (multimixtures): MM1 based on rice bran and MM2 based on wheat bran. This was done by identifying their macronutrients and performing analyses to determine characteristics such as rancidity, alcohol-soluble acidity, pH and presence of fungi (molds and yeasts) that could affect their quality. Our results show that MM1 has a greater content of nutrients such as lipids, insoluble fibers, calcium, and iron, while MM2 has a higher content of glycids and phosphorus. However, protein contents were similar in both samples. A high index of alcohol-soluble acidity was observed in MM1, and rancidity and high acidity were detected in both samples. No sign of dirtiness was found and the level of molds and yeasts encountered in both flours complies with the legal standards in effect in the country. We conclude that although the multimixtures present good levels of nutrients, they are highly susceptible to decomposition.