Protein quality of high-protein and low-protein milled rices in preschool children.

High-protein (11.0%, IR480-5-9) and low-protein (7.1%, IR32) milled rices were compared with casein as a control when fed as the main source of dietary N to eight apparently normal Filipino children, 1.5 to 2.0 years of age. Daily diets were formulated to contain 250 mg N and 100 kcal/kg body weight. Apparent digestibility of 60.0% for high-protein rice was lower than for low-protein rice (66.2%), and higher values of 76.8 and 80.8% were obtained for the two casein control diets. Corresponding apparent retentions were similar for the two rices, at 23.4 and 26.9%, respectively, as compared to 25.0 and 38.6% for the two casein control diets. These results support previous data on children fed non-isonitrogenous rice-based diets indicating that an increase in protein content of milled rice results in only a slight decrease in its protein quality. The results were similar to those obtained with Peruvian children on a similar protocol.