The Protein Nutritional Value of Soybean, Peanut, and Cottonseed Flours and Their Value as Supplements to Wheat Flour

Abstract

The growth-promoting values of the proteins of soybean, peanut, and cottonseed flours were compared by the rat-growth method, and also their values as supplements to the proteins of wheat flour. Soybean, peanut, and cottonseed flours contain proteins of high nutritive value and offer an excellent means of supplying dietary protein to extend and partially replace protein foods of animal origin. These plant proteins are well adapted to enhance the nutritive value of the proteins of wheat flour. The addition of as little as 5 parts of peanut, soybean of cottonseed flour to 95 parts of wheat flour produced mixtures containing 16 to 19% more protein than wheat flour alone and a protein combination that was definitely superior in its growth-promoting value to the same quantity of protein from wheat flour.