All-Vegetable Protein Mixtures for Human Feeding

Abstract

Baby New Hampshire chicks were used to measure the nutritive value of ground yellow corn, grain sorghum, rice, and whole buckwheat substituted for masa flour (from lime-treated corn) in INCAP Vegetable Mixture 8, a formula designed for the supplementary and mixed feeding of infants and young children and containing corn masa flour, sesame flour, cottonseed flour, torula yeast and kikuyu leaf meal. In two experiments, buckwheat produced significantly better growth and feed conversion than any of the cereal grains. Yellow corn gave the next best growth response, followed by rice and sorghum. Substitution of each of the cereal grains resulted in better growth than with masa flour, though the masa flour produced better feed conversions in most cases. In a third experiment in which all rations were supplemented with 0.4% lysine, equally excellent growth and feed conversion as well as protein efficiency values were obtained with all of the diets tested. These were equal or superior to those obtained with a complete stock ration for growing chicks which contained animal protein. The results obtained in this series of experiments indicate that any of the 4 cereals tested, ground yellow corn, buckwheat, sorghum or rice, could be substituted for all or part of the masa flour (from lime-treated corn) in INCAP Vegetable Mixture 8 if factors of economy and agriculture make this desirable.