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Acknowledgements
The committee would like to thank Dr Shane Rutherfurd of the Riddet Institute, Massey University, New Zealand for supplying data for the exemplar calculations of DIAAS and Dr Joyce Boye of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, for providing the examples of the calculation of DIAAS given in Section IV (2) of the report.
We also thank Mrs Terri Palmer of the Riddet Institute, Massey University, for secretarial assistance.
Chapter 1: Introduction
As the world's population increases rapidly and against the constraints of limiting land, water and food resources, it is more important than ever to be able to define accurately the amount and quality of protein required to meet human nutritional needs and describe appropriately the protein supplied by food ingredients, whole foods, sole-source foods and mixed diets. The match between dietary supply and human protein needs is vital to support the health and well-being of human populations.
In 1989 the joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Protein Quality Evaluation recommended the use of the Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS) method for evaluating protein quality. In calculating PDCAAS the limiting amino acid score (i.e. the ratio of the first-limiting amino acid in a gram of target food protein to that in a reference protein or requirement value) is multiplied by protein digestibility, with the intention of assessing how well dietary protein can match the demand for amino acids, and allowing the prediction of dietary protein utilisation. The PDCAAS method has now been in use for some 20 years and has proved to be of considerable value in practice. Nevertheless, limitations of PDCAAS have been recognised and debated, and new research findings have accumulated, whereby it has become timely to review the adequacy of PDCAAS and its application vis-à-vis other methods of estimating dietary protein quality.
It was in this context that an FAO Expert Consultation on Protein Quality Evaluation in Human Nutrition was held in Auckland, New Zealand, from March 31 to April 2, 2011. The Expert Consultation directly followed the 2011 International Symposium on Dietary Protein for Human Health (Auckland, New Zealand, 27-30 March 2011) where numerous topics relevant to the consultation were discussed. The Agenda adopted by the Consultation is attached as Appendix I and the membership of the Consultation is...