Getting under the hood on what makes a good protein is exercising the minds of some of the world’s leading experts in nutrition at the Riddet Institute over coming years.
The Proteos project is setting out to analyse and inventory about 100 proteins available for human consumption, determine their nutritive value and usefulness in improving human diets in both the developed and developing worlds.
Fonterra is lending its weight to the project via the Global Dairy Platform, with funding coming from the dairy giant and supported by the Primary Growth Partnership’s Transforming the Dairy Value Chain project.
The Global Dairy Platform aims to help the dairy industry promote sustainable dairy nutrition.
Fonterra senior research scientist Aaron Fanning and his team are working alongside one of the world’s leading authorities on food proteins, Riddet Institute co-director Professor Paul Moughan.
Fanning likens the work to creating an itemised inventory of the proteins available globally but said there is some groundwork to be done before a straightforward list appears.
“Led by Paul, a working group has come up with the Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score (DIAAS), which is essentially a scorecard on the value of amino acids which proteins provide to humans.
“So, first, we will be developing analytical methods around measurement for each protein and once they are finalised we can do an analysis of the major protein compounds.”
The project represents a deeper drill into protein quality that until now has been defined largely by its nitrogen content.
Fanning said Fonterra comes to the work already confident it has a range of animal-sourced proteins that rank well in terms of their value but the project will also encompass all meat types, milk, eggs and vegetable proteins.
Typically, milk proteins make up 10-12% of the human diet in the developed world with New Zealand sitting a little higher between 11% and 13%.
“The real value in knowing the score for each protein comes when you start to look at how to combine proteins in the diets of people in developing countries.”
For many of those countries plants such as corn form a key protein source.
“Corn could be 80% of the diet but it is not the best quality protein.
“But modifying it with better protein types will improve growth rates in kids, muscular development and overall health improves because of protein’s role in boosting the immune system.”
As the Western world battles the effects of consuming too much calorie-rich food often high in carbohydrates the study will help people to eat smarter.
High quality whey proteins have proved to be capable of providing a good source of nutrition for elderly people, offering a good energy-nutrition balance.
As more people seek plant proteins from the likes of peas or rice as their dietary choice, understanding the protein value in them will enable regulators to ensure consumers are getting adequate levels of protein in those products.
It will also provide better information on the protein claims made by the likes of sports drinks and supplement manufacturers.
“It may be that the main source of protein in some supplements is gelatine, which is actually not a high-quality protein source compared to a whey type protein source.”
While Fonterra holds IP on specific proteins, the Proteos project is a public good endeavour that will mean manufacturers do not have to do their own research and proof-of-claim work before using the selected proteins.
“Obviously, the advantage to the primary sector is knowing we already have high-quality proteins.”
Fanning expects it will take three to four years before the methodology is finalised and measurement is complete.
Moughan said the Proteos work rests heavily on previous studies the Riddet Institute did on human digestion of proteins.
