In‐vitro multienzyme digestibility of protein of some plant source flours blended with bovine plasma protein concentrate

The in‐vitro multienzyme protein digestibilities of the flours of maize, cassava, pigeon pea ( Cajanus cajan ), African yambean ( Sphenostylis stenocarpa ) and bambara groundnut ( Vigna subterranea ), blended with bovine plasma protein concentrate were investigated. The multienzyme system consists of trypsin, chymotrypsin and peptidase. It was found that the addition of bovine plasma protein concentrate improved the protein digestibility of the flours compared with flours without the additive. The digestibilities were increased by between 3% in bambara groundnut blended flour to about 10% in cassava blended flour. When the flours were wet‐heat treated, the digestibilities further increased in all samples with increments between 7·5 % in bambara groundnut and 16·6% in cassava flour. Bovine plasma protein concentrate may be a good source of protein for the fortification of protein‐deficient foods, particularly maize and cassava flours.