Biological Availability of Essential Amino Acids to Human Subjects

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Abstract
Urinary and fecal excretions of total N and fecal excretions of the 8 essential amino acids, and of cystine and tyrosine, were determined for 6 healthy young men on a low-protein diet and on diets in which the chief source of N was (1) egg, (2) pork and (3) peanut butter. Average values for the availability of amino acids and for nitrogen balances were similar for the egg and pork diets. With the exception of tyrosine, the average values for the availability of the amino acids in the peanut butter diet were consistently lower than those for the egg and pork diets. The average nitrogen balance also was lower for the peanut butter diet, due to higher excretions of both fecal and urinary N during this period. Limitation of the method used with regard to the calculation of availability for an individual food, rather than the total diet, was shown.