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White clover fractions as protein source for monogastrics: dry matter digestibility and protein digestibility‐corrected amino acid scores
Author(s) -
Stødkilde Lene,
Damborg Vinni K,
Jørgensen Henry,
Lærke Helle N,
Jensen Søren K
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.8744
Subject(s) - methionine , dry matter , amino acid , chemistry , fractionation , lysine , composition (language) , legume , cysteine , food science , protein quality , zoology , threonine , biology , agronomy , biochemistry , chromatography , enzyme , linguistics , philosophy , serine
BACKGROUND The present study aimed to evaluate the use of white clover as an alternative protein source for monogastrics. White clover plant and leaves were processed using a screw‐press resulting in a solid pulp and a juice from which protein was acid‐precipitated. The chemical composition of all fractions was determined and digestibility of dry matter (DM) and protein was assessed in an experiment with growing rats. RESULTS Protein concentrates were produced with crude protein (CP) contents of 451 g kg –1 and 530 g kg –1 DM for white clover plant and leaves, respectively, and a pulp with CP contents of 313 and 374 g kg –1 DM from plant and leaves, respectively. The amino acid composition ranged from 4.72 to 6.49 g per 16 g of nitrogen (N) for lysine, 1.82–2.6 g per 16 g N for methionine and cysteine, and 3.66–5.24 g per 16 g N for threonine. True faecal digestibility of protein varied from 0.81 to 0.88, whereas DM digestibility was in the range 0.72–0.80. Methionine and cysteine were found to be limiting in all fractions, regardless of the reference group used. CONCLUSION A high digestibility of white clover protein was found irrespective of the physical fractionation. Together with a well‐balanced amino acid composition, this makes white clover a promising protein source for monogastrics. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry