Oilseed by-products as plant-based protein sources: Amino acid profile and digestibility

The growing world population and its environmental impact motivate searching for new protein sources for the human diet. Agro-industrial by-products are potential sources due to high protein content. This study characterized meals from five sources (pumpkin seed, flaxseed, chia seed, sesame seed, and grapeseed), about the proximate composition, antinutritional factors (ANFs), amino acid profile (AA), and in vitro protein digestibility (IVPD). These by-products present protein content up to 40% and IVPD between 70-85%. ANFs results presented a low phytic acid content for all seed meals and high tannins content in grapeseed meal. In terms of essential AA, the chia seed meal did not show any deficiency. In contrast, the first limiting AA in sesame meal and brown flaxseed meal was lysine, and in pumpkin seed meal, grapeseed meal, and flaxseed meal were sulfur amino acids. These agro-industrial by-products are alternatives for replacing animal protein sources due to recovering high-quality proteins, minimizing adverse environmental impacts, and conserving scarce natural resources.

Automated summary

This study analyzed meals from five agro-industrial by-products for their protein content and digestibility, finding them to be high in protein and with good in vitro protein digestibility, making them potential alternatives to animal protein sources.