Nutritive evaluation of fish protein hydrolysate

The nutritive values of enzymatic fish protein hydrolysate (FPH) from defatted sardine meal were examined. The amino acid score of the FPH relative to the FAO/WHO pattern (1973) was calculated to be 100, showing that FPH is excellent protein nearly equal to the original meal. The nutritive values of FPH obtained in an experiment using growing rats were as follows: protein efficiency ratio (PER) 3.2, net protein ratio (NPR) 5.2, biological value (BV) 86, true digestibility (TD) 99%, net protein utilization (NPU) 85. These results show that FPH has high nutritive values, almost equivalent to defatted sardine meal and somewhat superior to casein, but slightly lower than an amino acid mixture corresponding to FPH. Furthermore, blood components (12items), liver and liver fat weights were measured in an animal experiment, and these values for animals fed the FPH appeared normal.