Cereal Chem 47:615 - 625.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Determination of the First-Limiting Amino Acid of Wheat and Triticale Grain for Humans.

C. Kies and H. M. Fox. Copyright 1970 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

The objective of the studies was to determine the first-limiting amino acids in ground whole triticale grain and in ground whole-wheat grain for maintenance of nitrogen retention in human adults. Mean nitrogen balances of ten human adults fed 4.0 g N per day from the wheat grain plus no amino acid supplement, plus L-lysine, plus L-tryptophan, plus L-methionine, or plus a combination of the listed amino acids, were -0.68, +0.05, -0.64, and +0.10 g. N per day, respectively. Nitrogen balances of nine human adults fed 4.0 g. N per day from the tritical grain plus no amino acid supplement, plus L-lysine, plus L-tryptophan, plus L- methionine, or plus a combination of all three listed amino acids, were -059, +0.11, -0.24, -0.41, and +0.27 g. N per day, respectively. The significant improvement in nitrogen retention that resulted from lysine supplementation of both wheat and triticale diets indicates that lysine is the first-limiting amino acid in both these cereal grains for protein nutriture of the adult human.