Impact of acha, pigeon pea, and oyster mushroom flour blends on amino acid profiles: Economic and health benefit

Most Africans, especially the people of Nigeria, are diagnosed for reduced muscles mass, slow metabolism, and low immunity due to consumption of poor-quality proteins. In this research, an investigation on the possibilities of improving the amino acid contents, the protein value of composites flours of different blends of acha, pigeon pea and oyster mushroom was done. Four formulations were evaluated: sample A1P0M0 contained only acha, while samples A75P20M5 contained 75% acha, 20% pigeon peas, and 5% mushroom; sample A70P20M10 contained 70% acha, 20% pigeon peas, and 10% oyster mushroom, and sample A65P20M15 contained 65% acha, 20% pigeon peas and 15% oyster mushroom. For amino acids profile, Leucine levels increased from 9.40 % (A75P20M5) to 10.01 % (A65P20M15). Concentration of essential amino acid, amino acid score based on whole chicken egg amino acid and essential amino acid score increased as pigeon pea and oyster mushroom were increased with threonine ranging from 0.99 % (A1P0M0) to 1.13 % (A65P20M15). Protein quality improved, ranging from 3.53 % (sample A1P0M0) to 3.83 % (sample A65P20M15) for protein efficiency ratio. This study suggests best flour blends to optimize nutritional quality, economic and health benefit.