Nitrogen Balance and Growth of the Rat as Affected by Certain Fruits in the Diet ,

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Abstract
Nitrogen balance observations were made on adult rats which were pair-fed diets low in protein (2.5% and 5.0%). Casein was compared with an isonitrogenous mixture of casein (50%) and banana protein (50%). The nitrogen balance was unaffected by adding the fruit protein. The fecal N, however, was greatly increased and the urinary N correspondingly decreased when casein and banana protein were fed together. The nitrogen balance index of absorbed nitrogen was, therefore, increased as the result of supplementing casein with banana protein. Feeding water-soluble as well as water-insoluble fractions of dried banana as supplements to a diet containing 10% of protein from casein failed to affect the N balance of adult rats. The addition of 9% fresh fruit pulp solids from banana, pineapple and apple failed to affect significantly the growth of weanling rats fed ad libitum.