Bioavailable Lysine, Assessed in Healthy Young Men Using Indicator Amino Acid Oxidation, is Greater when Cooked Millet and Stewed Canadian Lentils are Combined

Background: Pearl millet is the chief source of energy in the diet in some developing regions, but has a limited amount of indispensable amino acid lysine. Complementation with pulses like lentils can improve the protein quality of millet diets, but the knowledge of lysine bioavailability (BA) in millet and lentils is lacking. Objectives: The study objectives were to determine the BA of lysine in millet and lentils separately and to assess the effect of complementation of millet and lentils in a mixed meal format. Methods: We studied 9 healthy young men (<= 30 y; BMI <25) in a repeated-measure design using the indicator amino acid oxidation (IAAO) method, with L-[1-C-13] phenylalanine as the indicator. Each subject completed 7 or 8 experiments in random order. On the reference diet, subjects received 4 graded levels of L-lysine (5, 8, 12, and 15 mg. kg(-1).d(-1)) from a crystalline amino acid mixture patterned after egg protein; on the test diets, they received 3 levels of lysine (10, 12, and 15 mg. kg(-1).d(-1)) from either steamed millet or stewed lentils; and on the complementation diet, they received 1 level of lysine from a mixed meal of steamed millet and stewed lentils. The BA of lysine and the effect of complementation were assessed by comparing the IAAO responses to the test diets and the complementation diet with the IAAO response to L-lysine intakes in the reference protein, using the slope ratio method. Results: The BA of lysine was 97% from millet and 80% from lentils. Complementation of steamed millet with stewed lentils decreased the oxidation of L-[1-13C] phenylalanine by 27% (P < 0.05), signifying improved quality of the combined millet and lentil protein. Conclusions: Lysine has high BA but is still limiting in steamed pearl millet. Complementation with lentils in a 2:1 ratio is recommended to meet the lysine and protein requirements for adult men consuming a millet-based diet.