Critical note on the method of correcting protein digestion coefficients

Abstract

The object of this note is to call into question the soundness of the generally accepted method by which the so-called apparent protein digestion coefficients of foodstuffs are corrected. The digestion coefficient for the protein of a foodstuff as ordinarily determined by animal experiment does not afford a strictly accurate idea of the actual digestibility of that constituent. The figure represents a minimum value, and this arises from the well-known fact that the faeces do not consist solely of undigested food residues, but are to an appreciable extent contaminated by nitrogenous products which have been secreted into the alimentary tract and have escaped reabsorption. The nature of this so-termed metabolic material is twofold, being partly protein (mucus, epithelium, etc.) and partly non-protein (residues of digestive secretions, etc.). Before proceeding to a critical survey of the correction method, which is designed ostensibly to enable allowance to be made for the presence of such products in the faeces, it is of essential interest to consider briefly the true significance of the term “protein digestibility.”