Nutritional quality of proteins from two beef co-products as determined in the growing pig

The increasing demand for food and especially proteins leads to the search for alternative protein sources. Meat co-products, which are available but little used in human food, provide a potential solution to this challenge. The present study aimed to evaluate the nutritional quality of two beef protein ingredients (greasy greaves recovered proteins (GGRP) and water recovered proteins (WRP)), both co-products of the fat rendering process. Their true ileal digestibility (TID), digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS) and kinetics of plasma amino acids (AA) were measured in ten growing pigs, each fed the two co-products and a protein-free diet. Titanium dioxide was used as an indigestible marker. Digesta samples were collected for 9 h after meal ingestion, and blood samples were collected at ten time points during the same period. Total nitrogen (N) and AA contents were determined. Data were statistically analysed using linear mixed models. The TID of total N was not different between WRP and GGRP (81-84 %, <i>P</i> > 0·05). The first-limiting AA was Trp for both ingredients, with a DIAAS much higher for GGRP than for WRP (74 and 10 % for adults, respectively; <i>P</i> < 0·001). Postprandial plasma AA concentration peaked earlier for WRP (3 h) than for GGRP (5 h). Plasma concentrations of total and essential AA were higher (<i>P</i> < 0·001) with GGRP diet than WRP diet. Overall, GGRP has a nutritional quality suitable to meet the needs of adults for AA, while WRP needs to be supplemented with other protein sources to fulfil the dietary requirements.