Amino-acid composition, essential/non-essential amino-acid contents, recommended daily allowance, and amounts that meet RDAs of Cocoyam (Colocasia exculenta) and Soybeans (Glycine max) flour and their blends

Nutrients are chemical substances required by the body to sustain basic functions and are optimally obtained by eating a balanced diet. This study was performed to ascertain the amino acid (AA) composition, essential/non-essential AA contents, recommended daily allowance, and the amount that meets the recommended daily allowance of Colocasia exculenta and Glycine max flour and their various blends. AA analyses were done by using a gas chromatograph: HP 6890 with Chemstation Rev. A 09.01 (1206) software. The total amounts of AAs in unblended Glycine max and Colocasia exculenta flours were 93.68 and 75.47 (g/100g protein), respectively. Essential AAs found were phenylalanine, valine, threonine, tryptophan, isoleucine, methionine, leucine, lysine, while the non-essential AAs found were alanine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, serine, tyrosine, cystine, glycine, proline, histidine, and arginine. The order of the essential/non-essential AAs ratio was: unblended cocoyam flour (0.659) > 30% blend (0.656) > 20% blend (0.656) > 10% blend (0.644) > 40% blend (0.618) > 50% blend (0.577) > unblended soybean (0.574). The USAD, 2015 recommended daily allowance per kg body weight for the eight essential AAs was: Isoleucine = 19 mg, leucine = 42 mg, lysine = 38 mg, methionine (+ the non-essential AA cysteine) =19 mg, phenylalanine (plus the non-essential AA tyrosine) = 33 mg, threonine = 20 mg, tryptophan = 5 mg, and valine = 24 mg. Accordingly, the AA data presented in this study can be used to calculate how much of the soybean and cocoyam samples will supply wholly or partially these recommended allowances for the various AAs.