Total and Reactive Lysine Contents in Selected Cereal-Based Food Products

The aim of the study was to determine and compare reactive and total lysine contents in a range of breakfast cereal products. Crude fiber, fat, ash, and crude protein contents of 20 breakfast cereal products ranged from 4 to 38, 14 to 144, 7 to 32, and 52 to 253 g/kg, respectively. The concentrations of glutamic acid (18.7-32.1 g/100 g protein) and proline (4.7-10.8 g/100 g protein) were high while those of the amino acids methionine (1.2-2.0 g/100 g protein) and histidine (1.2-3.3 g/100 g protein) were relatively low. There was a strong relationship between reactive lysine determined using the guanidination and fluorodinitrobenzene methods (R = 0.99). The total lysine content, determined after conventional acid hydrolysis, ranged from 0.8 to 3.7 g/100 g protein, while the reactive lysine content (guanidination) ranged from 0.4 to 2.8 g/100 g protein. Reactive lysine was 20-54% lower than total lysine in the cereal products. The large differences between total and reactive lysine suggest a considerable loss of lysine in the breakfast cereals tested.