Proteins and Amino Acids of Kernels

Pseudocereals, in particular amaranth and quinoa, have an excellent protein composition with a high content of essential nutrients, especially lysine. The composition of proteins in pseudocereals differs from the true cereals: they have higher albumin and globulin content and are not toxic to coeliac disease patients. The balanced amino acid composition of pseudocereals is close to the optimum protein reference pattern in the human diet according to FAO/WHO requirements. This is also expressed in a high nutritional value of the proteins as determined by methods like protein digestibility, biological value (BV), net protein utilization (NPU), protein efficiency ratio (PER), or the Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS) (amino acid score protein digestibility). Often these values are comparable to those of casein or soy protein. Besides their nutritional benefit, protein isolates from theses pseudocereals also have interesting technological characteristics. They have good foaming and film forming properties, as well as emulsification capacity and stability.