Assessment of protein quality, organ weight and tibia length of experimental animals fed with quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa)/Avaliacao da qualidade proteica, peso de orgaos e comprimento da tibia e animais experimentais alimentados com quinoa (Chenopodium, quinoa)

Objective: The aim of this work was to evaluate the protein quality and the effects of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) ingestion on liver, spleen and tibial length in experimental animals. Method: For analysis of protein quality and feed efficacy, a 28-day biological assay and 18 Wistar rats were used, calculating the protein efficiency coefficient (PER), net protein ratio (NPR), chemical score corrected for protein digestibility (PDCAAS), utilization of liquid protein (NPU), in vivo digestibility and food efficiency coefficient (CEA) (AOAC). Results: Significant differences were found between PER, NPR, NPU and CEA values for quinoa (0.54; 2.58; 26.22 and 0.05, respectively) and casein (2.04; 3.84; 59 .9; 0.2, respectively). As for the proximate composition, values of 11.31% of protein, 11.28% of moisture, 2.04% of ash, 7.9% of lipids and 67.47% of carbohydrates were found. No significant differences were found between digestibility values of casein (96.93%) and quinoa (92.2%). The PDCAAS value found for quinoa was 0.97. There were significant differences in relation to organ weights, except for the weight of the tibia, with casein having greater weight. Conclusion: The lowest PER, NPR, NPU and CEA values demonstrated that quinoa protein had a lower quality than milk, but that the digestibility and PDCAAS values prove that it has good protein quality and an interesting amino acid profile, requiring further studies to assess its nutritional value. Keywords: Chenopodium quinoa. Protein quality. Digestibility. Objetivo: O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a qualidade proteica e os efeitos da ingestao da quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) no peso do figado, baco e comprimento da tibia de animais experimentais. Metodo: Para analise da qualidade proteica e eficacia alimentar, utilizou-se ensaio biologico de 28 dias e 18 ratos linhagem Wistar, calculando-se coeficiente de eficacia proteica (PER), razao proteica liquida (NPR), escore quimico corrigido pela digestibilidade proteica (PDCAAS), utilizacao da proteina liquida (NPU), digestibilidade in vivo e coeficiente de eficacia alimentar (CEA) (AOAC). Resultados: Foram encontradas diferencas significativas entre valores de PER, NPR, NPU e CEA da quinoa (0,54; 2,58; 26,22 e 0,05, respectivamente) e da caseina (2,04; 3,84; 59,9; 0,2, respectivamente). Quanto a composicao centesimal, foram encontrados valores de 11,31% de proteina, 11,28% de umidade, 2,04% de cinzas, 7,9% de lipidios e 67,47% de carboidratos. Nao foram encontr