Objective: Ten typical recipes from southwestern Colombia were evaluated at CIAT in Palmira, Colombia between 2008 and 2009.
Material and methods: The recipes were prepared in a traditional manner, using quality protein maize (QPM, with more tryptophan and lysine) or common maize (CM); each of these was either fresh kernel or dry grain, or white or yellow maize, per the recipe. The two types of maize were compared for their protein quality.
Results: Tryptophan concentrations were 0.011-0.072% and 0.012-0.107% for CM and QPM, respectively. Tryptophan values for QPM recipes were greater than or equal to those for CM recipes. Soluble protein ranged from 2.359-14.783 g/kg for CM and 3.339-16.839 g/kg for QPM. Except for one recipe, soluble protein in QPM recipes was greater or equal to that of CM recipes. In vitro protein digestibility was 75-84% for recipes prepared with both maize types. Only four recipes had a statistically significant difference between QPM and CM with regard to digestibility.
Conclusions: Most recipes prepared with QPM had a higher protein quality than those prepared with CM.