Cereal Chem 56:249 - 252.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Bioenergetic Cost of Altering the Amino Acid Composition of Cereal Grains.

R. K. Mitra, C. R. Bhatia, and R. Rabson. Copyright 1979 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

The bioenergic costs (glucose requirement to provide carbon skeletons and energy production) for the synthesis of 18 amino acids and two amides common to the endosperm proteins of cereal grains were calculated. The amount of glucose required for synthesis of histidine, arginine, lysine, and tryptophan was nearly double that required by glutamic acid and about 30-40% more than that required by glutamine; these are the predominant amino acid and amide in cereal proteins. The energy necessary for the synthesis of the eight essential amino acids for the nutrition of humans and monogastric animals was also higher compared with glutamic acid. Prolamins needed less assimilate for synthesis on a weight for weight basis than did the glutelins, albumins, and globulins of wheat, maize, rice, and oats. The implications for changing the amino acid composition of grain protein by plant breeding was discussed.