Biological Value of Protein

Biological Value of Protein
Biological Value of Protein is a measure of its quality or ability to support life. If a protein contains all the essential amino acids in the proportions needed by the body, it is said to have a high biological value.

If a protein lacks sufficient amount of one or more essential amino acids, it is by itself unable to support life and is said to be of low biological value.

Thus, biological value indicates the relative nutritional value of proteins.

Food proteins vary greatly on their amino acid composition. For example, animal food such as milk, eggs, fish, and poultry, contain all essential amino acids.

However, as cereal and pulses are normally consumed together with other foods such as vegetables, milk or curd, the lack in one food is supplemented by the other foods.

In other words, various foods when eaten together in a meal, complement each other and the biological value of protein mixture in the meal is much higher than that of the individual food proteins, when eaten separately.
Biological Value of Protein