ProteinDigestibilityCorrectedAminoAcidScore

FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Proteindigestibilitycorrectedaminoacidscore(PDCAAS)isamethodofevaluatingtheproteinquality
basedonboththeaminoacidrequirementsofhumansandtheirabilitytodigestit.ThePDCAASratingwas
adoptedbytheUSFoodandDrugAdministration(FDA)andtheFoodandAgriculturalOrganizationofthe
UnitedNations/WorldHealthOrganization(FAO/WHO)in1993as"thepreferred'best'"methodto
determineproteinquality.[1]

Contents
1
2
3
4
5

PDCAASvalueofprotein
Methodology
Limitations
Seealso
References

PDCAASvalueofprotein
APDCAASvalueof1isthehighest,and0thelowest.Thetableshowstheratingsofselected
foods.[2][3][4][5]
1.00 casein(milkprotein)
1.00 eggwhite
1.00 soyprotein
1.00 whey(milkprotein)
0.99 mycoprotein
0.92 beef
0.87 SachaInchiPowder
0.78 chickpeas
0.76 fruits
0.75 blackbeans
0.73 vegetables
0.70 Otherpeas
0.64 yellowsplitpea[6]
0.59 cerealsandderivatives
0.52 peanuts
0.50 rices
0.42 wholewheat
0.25 wheatgluten(food)

Methodology
TheformulaforcalculatingthePDCAASpercentageis:(mgoflimitingaminoacidin1goftestprotein/
mgofsameaminoacidin1gofreferenceprotein)xfecaltruedigestibilitypercentage.[2]
ThePDCAASvalueisdifferentfrommeasuringthequalityofproteinfromtheproteinefficiencyratio
(PER)andthebiologicalvalue(BV)methods.[5]ThePERwasbasedupontheaminoacidrequirementsof
growingrats,whichnoticeablydifferfromthoseofhumans.ThePDCAASallowsevaluationoffood
proteinqualitybasedontheneedsofhumansasitmeasuresthequalityofaproteinbasedontheaminoacid
requirements(adjustedfordigestibility)ofa2to5yearoldchild(consideredthemostnutritionally
demandingagegroup).TheBVmethodusesnitrogenabsorptionasabasis.However,itdoesnottakeinto
accountcertainfactorsinfluencingthedigestionoftheproteinandisoflimiteduseforapplicationto
humanproteinrequirementsbecausewhatismeasuredismaximalpotentialofqualityandnotatrue
estimateofqualityatrequirementlevel.Nevertheless,BVcanbeusedtoassessrequirementsofprotein
derivedfromfoodswithknownqualitydifferencesandmeasuretheproportionofabsorbednitrogenwhich
isretainedandpresumablyusedforproteinsynthesisasanaccurateindicatorforproteinmeasurement.[7]
UsingthePDCAASmethod,theproteinqualityrankingsaredeterminedbycomparingtheaminoacid
profileofthespecificfoodproteinagainstastandardaminoacidprofilewiththehighestpossiblescore
beinga1.0.Thisscoremeans,afterdigestionoftheprotein,itprovidesperunitofprotein100%ormoreof
theindispensableaminoacidsrequired.
TheFDAgavetworeasonsforadoptingthePDCAASin1993:1)PDCAASisbasedonhumanaminoacid
requirements,whichmakesitmoreappropriateforhumansthanamethodbasedontheaminoacidneedsof
animals.2)TheFoodandAgriculturalOrganization/WorldHealthOrganization(FAO/WHO)had
previouslyrecommendedPDCAASforregulatorypurposes.

Limitations
Aminoacidsthatmovebeyondtheterminalileuminthebodyarelesslikelytobeabsorbedforusein
proteinsynthesis.Theymaypassoutofthebody,ormaybeabsorbedbybacteria,thuswillnotbepresent
inthefeces,andwillappeartohavebeendigested.ThePDCAAStakesnoaccountofwheretheproteins
havebeendigested.
Similarly,aminoacidsthatarelostduetoantinutritionalfactorspresentinmanyfoodsareassumedtobe
digestedaccordingtothePDCAAS.
ThePDCAASmethodmayalsostillbeconsideredincomplete,sincehumandiets,exceptintimesof
famine,almostnevercontainonlyonekindofprotein.However,calculatingthePDCAASofadietsolely
basedonthePDCAASoftheindividualconstituentsisimpossible,becauseonefoodmayprovidean
abundanceofanaminoacidthattheotherismissing,inwhichcasethePDCAASofthedietishigherthan
thatofanyoneoftheconstituents.Toarriveatthefinalresult,allindividualaminoacidswouldhavetobe
takenintoaccount,though,sothePDCAASofeachconstituentislargelyuseless.
Forexample,grainproteinhasaPDCAASofabout0.4to0.5,limitedbylysine.Ontheotherhand,it
containsmorethanenoughmethionine.Whitebeanprotein(andthatofmanyotherpulses)hasaPDCAAS
of0.6to0.7,limitedbymethionine,andcontainsmorethanenoughlysine.Whenbothareeateninroughly

equalquantitiesinadiet,thePDCAASofthecombinedconstituentis1.0,becauseeachconstituent's
proteiniscomplementedbytheother.
Amoreextremeexamplewouldbethecombinationofgelatine(whichcontainsvirtuallynotryptophanand
thushasaPDCAASof0)withisolatedtryptophan(which,lackingallotheressentialaminoacids,alsohas
aPDCAASof0).Despiteindividualscoresof0,thecombinationofbothinadequateamountshasa
positivePDCAAS,withthelimitingaminoacidsisoleucine,threonine,andmethionine.Further,according
toa2000studybyGerjanSchaafsma,"Thequestionsaboutthevalidityoftheaminoacidscoringpattern
andtheapplicationofthetruefecalratherthanthetrueilealdigestibilitycorrection,aswellasthe
truncationofPDCAASvalueswarrantacriticalevaluationofPDCAASinitscurrentformasameasureof
proteinqualityinhumandiets."[2]Also,thescientificcommunityhasraisedcriticalquestionsaboutthe
validityofPDCAAS(thevalidityofthepreschoolagechildaminoacidscoringpattern,thevalidityofthe
truefecaldigestibilitycorrectionandthetruncationofPDCAASvaluesto100%).[8][9]
Inaddition,thefactthatfourproteins,allwithdifferentaminoacidprofiles,receiveidenticalscoresof1.0
limitsitsusefulnessasacomparativetool.Sincetheyhavedifferentcompositions,itisnaturaltoassume
thattheyperformdifferentlyinthehumanbodyandshouldhavedifferentscores.Inshort,thismethod,
however,givesnodistinctionoftheirperformancerelativetoeachother,becauseaftertheypassacertain
point,theyareallcappedat1.0andreceiveanidenticalrating.[5][10][11]
Thisisbecausein1990ataFAO/WHOmeeting,itwasdecidedthatproteinshavingvalueshigherthan1.0
wouldberoundedor"leveleddown"to1.0asscoresabove1.0areconsideredtoindicatetheprotein
containsessentialaminoacidsinexcessofthehumanrequirements.[12]

Seealso
Aminoacidscore
Proteinquality
Netproteinutilization
Nitrogenbalance

References
1.Boutrif,E.,FoodQualityandConsumerProtectionGroup,FoodPolicyandNutritionDivision,FAO,Rome:
"RecentDevelopmentsinProteinQualityEvaluation"Food,NutritionandAgriculture,Issue2/3,1991(http://w
ww.fao.org/docrep/U5900t/u5900t07.htm)
2.SchaafsmaG(July2000)."Theproteindigestibilitycorrectedaminoacidscore".TheJournalofNutrition130
(7):1865S7S.PMID10867064.
3.SurezLpezMM,KizlanskyA,LpezLB(2006)."[Assessmentofproteinqualityinfoodsbycalculatingthe
aminoacidsscorecorrectedbydigestibility]".NutricinHospitalaria(inSpanish)21(1):4751.
PMID16562812.
4."IstheproteininMycoproteinofahighquality?".FAQ.MarlowFoodsLtd.Retrieved22August2012.
5.Hoffman,JayR.Falvo,MichaelJ.(2004)."ProteinWhichisBest"(PDF).JournalofSportsScienceand
Medicine3(3):11830.
6.http://www.pealentil.com/core/files/pealentil/uploads/files/Webinar_4a.pdf
7.Srikantia,S.G.,UniversityofMysore,Mysore:"TheUseOfBiologicalValueOfAProteinInEvaluatingIts
QualityForHumanRequirements",JointFAO/WHO/UNUExpertConsultationonEnergyandProtein
RequirementsEPR8129,Rome,Aug1981.(http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/MEETING/004/M2835E/M2835E00.

HTM)
8.DarraghAJ,SchaafsmaG,MoughanPJ(1998)."Impactofaminoacidavailabilityontheproteindigestibility
correctedaminoacidscore".Bulletin(InternationalDairyFederation)336:4650.ISSN02598434.
9.DutchDairyFoundationonNutritionandHealthProceedingsoftheInternationalWorkshoponNutritional
AspectsofMilkProteinsinComparisonwithOtherProteins,organizedbytheDutchFoundationonNutrition
andHealth,Utrecht,theNetherlands,March1314,1995
10.SarwarG(May1997)."Theproteindigestibilitycorrectedaminoacidscoremethodoverestimatesqualityof
proteinscontainingantinutritionalfactorsandofpoorlydigestibleproteinssupplementedwithlimitingamino
acidsinrats".TheJournalofNutrition127(5):75864.PMID9164998.
11.SchaafsmaG(2005)."TheProteinDigestibilityCorrectedAminoAcidScore(PDCAAS)aconceptfor
describingproteinqualityinfoodsandfoodingredients:acriticalreview".JournalofAOACInternational88
(3):98894.PMID16001875.
12.FAO/WHO[1990].Expertconsultationonproteinqualityevaluation.FoodandAgricultureOrganizationofthe
UnitedNations,Rome.

Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Protein_Digestibility_Corrected_Amino_Acid_Score&oldid=725102681"
Categories: Nutrition
Thispagewaslastmodifiedon13June2016,at15:54.
TextisavailableundertheCreativeCommonsAttributionShareAlikeLicenseadditionaltermsmay
apply.Byusingthissite,youagreetotheTermsofUseandPrivacyPolicy.Wikipediaisa
registeredtrademarkoftheWikimediaFoundation,Inc.,anonprofitorganization.