Six varieties of triticale and two varieties of wheat flours were analyzed for their proximal composition. The
protein content of triticale flours ranged from 7.2 to 11.0%, and that of wheat flours, was 10.8 and 10.9%, respectively. The
biological quality of Tca 8-74, measured as PER in Wistar rats, was 1.14, while that of commercial wheat flour was 0.85 (P less than 0.05).
Amino acid supplementation of triticale flour with 0.2%
L-lysine or 0.4% DL-
threonine did not improve the
biological quality of the
protein. Supplementation with both
amino acids, however, significantly improved both
weight gain and PER. The value for the latter was 2.59 as compared to 2.62 for the standard
casein diet. A panification assay was carried out using triticale, wheat and triticale: wheat blends in the following proportions: 1:0; 3:1; 1:1; 1:3; 0:1, and all of the breads were tested for their PER in rats. The PER for wheat bread and triticale bread was 1.05 and 1.25, respectively. None of the breads made from the wheat and triticale blends improved its
protein quality beyond that of the wheat or triticale breads. The results of this study indicate that triticale has a better
protein quality than wheat; furthermore, it may be used either alone or mixed with wheat in panification without affecting its
protein value.