Determination of Indispensable Amino Acid Digestibility of the Red Kidney Bean in Humans Using a Dual Stable Isotope Tracer Method

Daniel J Thomas; Cliff Riley; Sarita Devi; Anura V Kurpad; Thomas Preston; Ryan Francis; Bentley Chambers; Orgen Brown; Asha V Badaloo

doi:10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.07.008

Determination of Indispensable Amino Acid Digestibility of the Red Kidney Bean in Humans Using a Dual Stable Isotope Tracer Method

J Nutr. 2023 Oct;153(10):2979-2984. doi: 10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.07.008. Epub 2023 Jul 22.

Authors

Daniel J Thomas¹, Cliff Riley², Sarita Devi³, Anura V Kurpad⁴, Thomas Preston⁵, Ryan Francis², Bentley Chambers¹, Orgen Brown¹, Asha V Badaloo⁶

Affiliations

¹ Tropical Metabolism Research Unit, Caribbean Institute for Health Research, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica.
² Scientific Research Council, Kingston, Jamaica.
³ Division of Nutrition, St. John's Medical College, St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, Karnataka.
⁴ Department of Physiology, St. John's Medical College, St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, Karnataka.
⁵ Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (TP), East Kilbride, Scotland.
⁶ Tropical Metabolism Research Unit, Caribbean Institute for Health Research, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica. Electronic address: asha.badaloo@uwimona.edu.jm.

PMID: 37482123
DOI: 10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.07.008

Abstract

Background: Protein quality of the red kidney bean (RKB), a common source of dietary protein, has been assessed using the protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) determined in animal models using mainly oro-fecal digestibility. More recently, the FAO recommended to use digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS) instead of PDCAAS but highlighted insufficient data on true ileal indispensable amino acid (IAA) digestibility of proteins because amino acids are absorbed in the ileum.

Objectives: Using a recently developed dual stable isotope tracer method, we aimed to measure each IAA digestibility as representation of true ileal digestibility of the RKB, Phaseolus vulgaris, in humans consuming a typical Jamaican meal.

Methods: RKB-IAAs were intrinsically labeled by adding ²H₂O to the plants. Uniformly labeled-[¹³C]-spirulina (standard protein) was added to a meal prepared with the labeled RKB and fed to 10 healthy adults (5 males, 5 females) in a nonrandomized trial as primed/intermittent doses to achieve a steady state IAA enrichment in plasma. Enrichment of ²H- and ¹³C-labeled IAA in plasma and the bean was measured by mass spectrometry. Each IAA digestibility (except tryptophan and histidine) was calculated as the ratio of plasma ²H-IAA to meal ²H-IAA divided by the ratio of plasma ¹³C-IAA to meal 13C-IAA adjusted for loss of ²H-atom during transamination and digestibility of spirulina.

Results: Adequate IAA labeling (>1000 ppm ²H excess) and plasma plateau isotopic enrichment were achieved. Mean RKB-IAA digestibility (%) was 79.4 ± 0.5, ranging from 69.0 ± 1.2 (threonine) to 85.7 ± 1.7 (lysine).

Conclusion: The dual stable isotope tracer digestibility data are similar to published oro-fecal digestibility supporting substantial nitrogen exchange in the colon. The individual IAA digestibility is useful to derive DIAAS to replace PDCAAS. Using published RKB-IAA composition, extrapolated DIAAS was 0.63 based on the lowest score for methionine.

Clinical trial registration: https://register.

Clinicaltrials: gov; ID: NCT-04118517.

Keywords: dual stable isotope tracer; indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS); intrinsic labeling; protein quality; true digestibility of red kidney bean in humans.