Cereal Chem 54:949 - 957.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Protein Efficiency Patio Pitfalls and Causes of Variability: A Review.

F. H. Steinke. Copyright 1977 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Presented herein is a review of the many factors, other than essential amino acid content, which can influence the results obtained with the rat protein efficiency ration (PER) evaluations as presently conducted. Some of the causes of variation are due to the procedures specified by the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) method, while others are associated with the types of food products now being evaluated for protein quality. The factors considered are 1) animal quality; 2) strain of rats; 3) acclimation period; 4) diet instability; 5) nutritional balancing of diets; 6) diet hydration; 7)high moisture samples; 8) diet selection; and 9) food samples with usual nutrient contents. The many potential problems emphasize the need for clearer specification for handling food samples for PER evaluations.