Protein and amino acid profiles of some malaysian fruits

J. Zanariah and A. Noor rehan

Abstract

The total amino acid content of some Malaysian fruits were determined using the Technicon Sequential Multisampler Amino Acid Analyser.In general,fruits are not considered as good sources of protein in terms of quality compared to animal sources.It is therefore important to investigate the protein quality especially the amino acid profiles of local fruits. Nine varieties of bananas and 17 types of local fruits were analysed for their protein and amino acids. Many of the fruits were found to contain less than 2% protein. The amino acid profiles of imported fruits such as apples, oranges, and others are tabled in this article for comparison. There are some local fruits such as papaya, jackfruit and guava which have potential as protein sources and contain a good balance of the nutritionally required amino acids. Papaya and guava are rich in lysine, one of the essential amino acids which is often found limiting in rice and other common foods.

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